Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles made it back-to-back victories in the NSW Cup today with a 26-24 win over Penrith Panthers.
Fresh from a win over the Knights last week, the Sea Eagles showed tremendous fighting spirit to make it two straight under Coach Greg Boulous after leading 12-6 at half-time to take out the 'local derby'.
The first 10 minutes saw back-and-forth action between the two sides as they both gave away sloppy errors as well as conceding cheap penalties. Each had their chance to grab the first points but were denied at the line with defence that was good enough to match the attack.
Blacktown’s Brad Abbey scored the first try in the 11th minute after a big line break in the middle of the field from Jake Toby to help grab an early 4-0 lead. The fullback was sent into open space by prop Aaron Woods, who ran hard and found the pass just before the line.
Winger Clayton Faulalo scored the Sea Eagles’ second try in the space of five minutes, with another try assist to Toby’s name. The ball was shifted to the right edge and found Toby, who dragged in the winger before flicking it out to Faulalo. The winger ran his line perfectly and gave himself just enough space to dive over and ground the ball for an 8-0 scoreline.
The Panthers had their chances to reply after the first two tries with Manly sloppily giving away two drop-outs after errors from the kick-off. Despite this, the Sea Eagles played their cards right and went short on both drop-outs, winning the ball back to keep the opposition scoreless.
Blacktown Workers second-rower Joshua Stuckey scored his third try in two games in impressive fashion, spinning out of a tackle and beating three defenders for a 12-0 lead in the 25th minute after some good work by hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong.
Penrith winger Jesse McLean was denied a try with just under five minutes remaining in the first half. The home side broke out of a scrum at the 40 metre line and immediately shifted it left, finding the outside of Blacktown’s defence 20 metres out only to knock the ball on at the tryline.
Panthers hooker Luke Sommerton scored on the stroke of halftime after scooting out of the ruck and dummying right to dive under the posts untouched. Five-eighth Kurt Falls converted from in front for a 12-6 scoreline at the break.
The opening three minutes of the second half was riddled with errors, similar to the opening of the first half. Fletcher Myers thought he had a try after attempting a one-on-one strip, only for the referee to overrule it and award a penalty in favour of the home team.
Penrith prop Liam Henry scored in the 44th minute after finding himself in the right place at the right time. A bomb from halfback Jack Cogger couldn’t be defused and rolled infield towards Henry who picked it up and dived over for the try. Falls converted from next to the posts to level the scores at 12-all.
The Panthers scored three minutes later through winger Tom Jenkins, who was sent over the line by back-rower Chris Smith with a well-timed pass to beat the fullback. Falls converted from the sideline to take an 18-12 lead.
Winger Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega scored a stunning try for Blacktown in the 51st minute with a phenomenal line break from Myers on the left edge. He was one-on-one with the fullback and offloaded to the flying Vaega who crashed past the defender to ground the ball and bring the match within two points at 18-16.
Blacktown grabbed the lead in the 62nd minute with a strong try from lock Zac Fulton, taking a pass from five-eighth Dean Matterson 10 metres out from the line and fooling the defence with a dummy before muscling his way over for a 20-18 scoreline.
Blacktown Workers prop Toff Sipley burrowed his way underneath the defence with a strong scoot out of dummy half to score for the Sea Eagles. Faulalo converted from in front for a 26-18 lead.
Toby fell short of a try for Blacktown in the 75th minute that would’ve sealed the match, losing the ball just shy of the tryline after making a sharp run at pace on the inside of his halfback.
Sommerton scored his second for Penrith with just over three minutes remaining, in similar fashion to Sipley, burrowing underneath the defenders at the line to ground the ball on the tryline. Falls converted from next to the posts for a 26-24 scoreline.
With a minute remaining and after a scuffle near the middle of the field, the Sea Eagles were awarded a penalty just inside the 40-metre line. In attempts to run the clock down, they took a shot at two points but were unsuccessful. Penrith attempted a short drop-out on the 20-metre line but were unable to win the ball back, with the siren sounding soon after.
Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles take on the New Zealand Warriors in Round seven of the NSW Cup at Blacktown on Saturday, April 16 at 3pm.
