The Toyota Forklifts Canberra Raiders have suffered a 42-18 defeat against the Penrith Panthers, as 10,000 rural fans flocked to Glen Willow Stadium, Mudgee.
As the anticipation lifted in Mudgee, Canberra were afforded the first attacking opportunity of the evening, as a lack of discipline from the Penrith defence placed them on the back foot early.
Matthew Timoko ensured fans didn’t have to wait too long for points, slicing through a gap in the Panthers defence following a short side raid from Ethan Strange.
The Raiders early lead was short lived however, as Nathan Cleary took matters into his own hands, shooting through the defence before linking up with Liam Martin for Penrith’s first points of the contest.
The Panthers took full advantage of the early momentum shift following the restart, consistently forcing the Raiders to work the ball out of their own 20 metres.
Following a lengthy review by The Bunker, the initial on field decision of no try was overturned, with Martin picking up a double for Penrith within the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the deficit on the scoreboard the Raiders remained resilient on their own line, soaking up a bulk of Penrith’s attacking possession.
Having enjoyed success down the right side, Penrith turned to their left edge attack with Casey Mclean and Thomas Jenkins linking up to extend the Panthers lead to 18-6 as the clock wound down towards half time.
The pressure on the Raiders became more and more apparent with every passing minute, as Penrith ran in a further two tries to lead 30-6 heading into the sheds.
Other than an opportunity for the Green Machine in the opening phases of the second half, both teams settled into a back-and-forth brand of footy.
For everything the Raiders produced in attack, it seemed as though Penrith had a response in defence, constantly shutting down any space Canberra tried to expose.
In the 57th minute Liam Henry crossed for Penrith’s sixth try of the evening, cracking Canberra’s defence for the first time after the break.
Even with an extended run of possession deep within Penrith’s territory, Canberra were unable to break through following a lack of ball security.
With highlights few and far between in the second half, Zac Hosking produced a hit felt amongst the crowd, flattening Martin close to the Raiders line.
Throwing caution to the wind in the 71st minute, Canberra finally found the line as the returning Matty Nicholson benefitted from some flashy passing across the field.
The Raiders had found their groove late in the game, with a spread to the left edge proving beneficial once more, as a string of support plays ended with Strange scoring the Raiders third.
Penrith quashed any hope of late comeback for the Raiders, as Isaiah Papali’i finished off a Panthers line break to crack forty points with just under three minutes remaining.
Despite a disallowed try to the Panthers as the siren sounded, the 10,000 fans at Glen Willow Oval witnessed a high scoring affair as the Raiders fell to Penrith 42-18.
