Match Report – Panthers defeat gritty Bears

A strong start from the Penrith Panthers was enough to overcome a determined North Sydney Bears team at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday evening.

The big-name Penrith side including Mitch Rein and Dean Whare raced out to a 14-0 lead after only 17 minutes on the clock. An unwavering Bears did their best to hold on, crossing the line twice in the first half to claw their way back into contention, going in to the sheds at the break down 16-10.

Strong performances by Luke Kelly and Cheyne Whitelaw kept the Bears in the game, and an opportunity to seal the game went begging with Tautalasi Tasi going excruciatingly close to catching a Luke Kelly cross field kick in the Penrith in goal.

Despite a gallant effort by the Bears, the Panthers held their lead 24-16 at the end of the final siren. Good news for the Bears were that results over the weekend show that the Mighty Bears are going to finish in the top eight, win or lose next weekend against Newtown. Semi finals here we come!

Penrith Panthers 24 (J Cartwright, C Waddell, S Akauola, T Satini tries; D Nicholls 4 goals) def North Sydney Bears 16 (S Moceidreke, F Mauala, A Doueihi tries; E Levido 2 goals)

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FINAL TEAM
1 Eli Levido
2 Tautalatasi Tasi
17 Sitiveni Moceidreke
4 Edward Murphy
5 Abbas Miski
6 Adam Doueihi
7 Luke Kelly
8 David Tyrrell

9 Bradley Deitz

10 Dean Britt

11 Jason Clark
14 Piki Rogers

13 Cheyne Whitelaw

Interchange
15 Toby Rudolf
16 Fred Mauala
18 Thomas Freebairn
22 Clayton Williams