Round 15
St.George-Illawarra Dragons 26 l. Penrith Panthers 28

2008 Toyota National Youth Competition Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > Second Grade Competition: Toyota National Youth Competition

Panthers end Dragons Toyota Cup winning streak
Sat June 21, 2008
Source: www.dragons.com.au

The St George Illawarra Dragons Toyota Cup sides winning streak has tonight come to an end tonight after being narrowly defeated by the Panthers 28-26 at ANZ Stadium.

In a match that changed hands on a number of occasions the Panthers ended the match in front.

The Panthers opened the scoring in just the third minute of play through Lachlan Coote. It was off the back of a mistake by the Dragons on the Panthers 40m line. After working their way down field halfback Joel Romelo who drifted across field and attracted three defenders before passing it off to his winger William Isa who worked back inside and gave the ball to Coote to score 20m to the left of the uprights. Coote converted and the Panthers jumped out to an early 6-nil lead.

In the 18th minute the Dragons answered back through right winger Henry Raiwalui. A penalty in their own half put the home side in an attacking position. With plenty of ball movement the ball was in the hands of Maurice Kennedy threw a cut out ball to Raiwalui who beat his opponent to score in the south-western corner. Matt Mundine couldn't convert with the Panthers still in the lead 6-4.

A lost ball by the Panthers deep in Dragons territory turned out to be a costly mistake with the Dragons running 80m to score through Joe Vickery in the south-eastern corner. On this occasion Mundine converted from the sideline to put to the Dragons in front 10-4 after 30 minutes.

Four minutes prior to half-time the Panthers got back into the lead after winger Sonny Tuigamala who picked up a loose ball and ran 95m to score untouched in the 36th minute. Coote again converted to put the Panthers in front 12-10.

Just as the half-time siren was about to sound a Mundine kick was put through and after a favourable bounce the Dragons regained possession and three long passes out to the left resulted in a try being scored by Travis Roche. Mundine beautifully converted from the sideline to put the Dragons back in front 16-12 at the break.

The Panthers were first to post points in the second stanza through William Isa just five minutes into the half. It came to the last tackle and a mid-field bomb was put up by Romelo and Isa jumped above the pack and scored in the south-eastern corner. Coote again converted to put the Panthers in front 18-16.

A penalty against the Dragons for a high shot gave the Panthers a full set inside the Dragons 10m line. It took only three tackles before a simple one pass of the ruck play put prop forward Joel Orton across under the uprights after 53 minutes of play. Coote had his kicking boots on and converted to extend the lead out to 24-16.

In the 60th minute the Dragons answered back through another piece of twin brilliance. As per many of the tries in the Toyota Cup it was scored off the back of a penalty and on the last tackle Maurice Kennedy put a grubber through for his twin brother John to score under the posts. On this occasion Vickery converted to close the gap to 24-22 in favour of the Panthers.

In a game that changed leads on a number of occasions the Panthers again extended their lead after Orton grabbed his second try of the night. From a 20m restart the Panther went 80m in one set of six that finished with Orton scoring just to the left of the uprights in the 63rd minute. Coote hooked his conversion attempt and the Panther were out to a 28-22 lead.

The Dragons weren't finished with a last ditch effort put in to salvage the draw. After throwing the ball around the red and whites scored in the 76th minute through Vickery. With a mount of pressure on him Vickery was unable to convert from the western touchline leaving the Panther in front 28-26 at the close of play.

PANTHERS 28 (J Orton 2, L Coote, S Tuigamala, W Isa Tries; L Coote 4 Goals) def. DRAGONS 26 (J Vickery 2, H Raiwalui, T Roche, J Kennedy Tries; M Mundine 2 Goals, Vickery 1 Goal).

Report Source: www.dragons.com.au

NRL: Dragons 13 v Panthers 12
NYC: Dragons 26 v Panthers 28

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