Saturday 25th August at Canberra Stadium
Penrith 19 – Tries: Simmons (1), Tighe (1), Walsh (1); Goals: Walsh (3); Field goals: Walsh (1) | Canberra 18
More: http://mightypanthers.webs.com/match1053.htm
After only three minutes, Luke Walsh finished a long range try that started with an Adrian Purtell line break. His conversion gave the visitors a 6-0 lead.
However, the Raiders would soon after equalise and then score again to hold a 12-6 lead at half time.
A well placed cross field bomb from Walsh was spilt by the Canberra defenders and propelled forward into Brad Tighe who then barged his way over the line, with Walsh’s conversion making it 12-all.
In the 52nd minute, debutant Blake Austin broke the line, and an inside pass was touched by the Raiders defenders, and picked up by Lachlan Coote, who then through a chain of passes found an unmarked David Simmons on the left edge to cross over in the corner. Walsh’s sideline conversion saw the Panthers regain the lead.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, a Walsh field goal from just over 20 metres out gave Penrith a 7 point buffer.
A Canberra try with only two minutes remaining reduced it to a 1 point margin but the Penrith held on by the barest of margins.
