Vodafone Warriors overcome Panthers in the wet
Monday 11 June 2012 7:30 PM
WARRIORS 30
(Manu Vatuvei 2, Konrad Hurrell, James Maloney, Kevin Locke Tries; Maloney 5/5 Goals)
Defeated
PENRITH PANTHERS 16
(Josh Mansour, Kevin Kingston, Geoff Daniela Tries; Luke Walsh 2/3 Goals).
The Vodafone Warriors have pulled off a strong 30-16 victory over the Penrith Panthers in driving rain at Centrebet Stadium.
The visitors started quickly, and after the Panthers struck back and led 16-12 at the break, the Vodafone Warriors kept them scoreless in the second half and ran in three tries of their own to win on the road.
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The first half was, in itself, a half of two halves, with the visitors dominating early proceedings before the Panthers came storming back in the final 15 minutes.
The Vodafone Warriors looked to their kicking game for control, and it came up trumps in the 10th minute when Manu Vatuvei pounced on a bomb spilt by Lachlan Coote for a 6-0 lead. 7 minutes later Vatuvei was in again, this time on the end of a Shaun Johnson grubber to extend their lead to 12-0.
But the game was turned on its head in the 26th minute when Josh Mansour took an intercept and sprinted 90m untouched to score under the posts and narrow the margin to 12-6, completely against the run of play.
It switched the Panthers on, and they crossed twice again before the break. The first came through Kevin Kingston in the 30th minute after Luke Walsh took the line on, and that was followed up in the 35th minute when Geoff Daniela scored to put the Panthers in front 16-12 going into half time.
The Vodafone Warriors put plenty of pressure on the Panthers early in the second half, and after Manu Vatuvei was denied by the video referee, Konrad Hurrell put them in front, picking up a loose ball and running 40m to score under the posts in the 53rd minute.
James Maloney made it back to back tries in the 64th minute when he hit a hole off a Feleti Mateo ball and stretched out to score, pushing their lead to 24-16.
A number of errors from the Vodafone Warriors inside their own 30m gave the Panthers a chance to get back in the game in the final 10 minutes, but good defence and last tackle pressure held the home side at bay, before Kevin Locke scored in the final minute to secure a 30-16 victory.
Best for the Vodafone Warriors were Ben Matulino, Shaun Johnson and Feleti Mateo, while for the Panthers the best were Josh Mansour, Kevin Kingston and Luke Walsh.
Injury and Team News
Vodafone Warriors Alehana Mara (ankle).
Penrith Panthers Travis Burns (cheekbone).
In the NYC match, the Vodafone Junior Warriors were beaten 14-10 by the Panthers in extremely wet conditions.
Vote for the Man of the Match at the conclusion of tonight's match for the Provan Summons Medal
Next UpIn Round 15 the
Vodafone Warriors travel to Toyota Stadium to take on the Cronulla Sharks on Saturday at 5:30pm.