Three late tries wasn’t enough to save the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles from a 28-18 loss to the Penrith Panthers in round 24 of the NSW Cup on Friday night.
In a Blacktown home game played at Brothers Rugby League Club ground in Penrith, the Sea Eagles trailed 12-0 at half-time before Penrith raced away for a dominant lead to then hold off a late comeback.
The loss saw Blacktown Workers drop to fifth place with two rounds remaining. The top five teams contest the finals.
Blacktown sit on 28 points with the fourth-placed Penrith and the sixth placed Rabbitohs. There is a chance Blacktown Workers could drop out of the top five subject to weekend results.’
The Sea Eagles play the third placed Warriors and the second placed Bulldogs in away games to finish the regular season.
The Panthers opened the scoring in the 13th minute when prop Eddie Blacker carried two defenders over the line to score next to the posts for a 6-0 lead.
Lock Preston Riki then scored a freakish try after the ball bounced into his arms from a short drop out to cross in the corner for a 10-0 lead after 16 minutes.
A penalty goal in the 24th minute led to the Panthers taking a 12-0 lead into half-time.
Penrith went to an 18-0 lead after Kurt Falls converted a try to prop Liam Henry next to the posts in the 54th minute.
The Panthers then cruised to a commanding 24-0 when Falls converted his own try in the 63rd minute after a short run from dummy half.
With 15 minutes remaining, Blacktown Workers got on the board when Jackson Ferris dived over in the right corner to finish off a nice backline play to trail 24-4.
Penrith extended their lead to 28-4 after centre Matt Stimson swooped on a grubber kick to score in the 69th minute before a reverse shift play from Blacktown Workers saw Ferris grab his second try five minutes later.
Leading NSW Cup tryscorer Clayton Faulalo added to his tally when he crossed two minutes from full-time off a kick from full-back Jake Toby following a good break from half-back Kaeo Weekes.
Blacktown Workers play the Warriors at Go Media Stadium, Auckland, next Friday at 3.30pm (NZ time).
