A narrow 18-20 loss to Penrith today ended the One New Zealand Warriors’ exceptional unbeaten run at 16, taking some of the edge off celebrations when the team later received the New South Wales Cup’s minor premiership shield in Sydney.
With three rounds still to play, the Warriors had clinched the title last week for the first time in the club’s history.
They needed a comeback then to beat the Bulldogs 34-30 and found themselves in the same predicament again today.
The first half was a see-sawing affair with both sides swapping the lead, Warriors centre Morgan Harper scoring wide out in the opening minutes and Kalani Going grabbing their second before the Panthers scored their third to take a 16-12 lead into the break.
Match: Panthers v Warriors
Round 24 -
home Team
Panthers
5th Position
away Team
Warriors
1st Position
Venue: St Marys Leagues Stadium, Sydney
With a David Fale try early in the second spell Penrith skipped out to a 20-12 advantage but the Warriors stayed in the grind, working for an opportunity and finally landing one 10 minutes from time when Going hit a short ball from Makaia Tafua.
With Jett Cleary’s third conversion the margin was down to 18-20 but the Panthers managed to hold on over the closing minutes to have the satisfaction of halting the Warriors’ stunning unbeaten run dating back to April.
This was just their second loss in 22 games.
NSW Cup Highlights: Comeback falls short against Penrith
