Penrith Panthers have their three-game winning streak snapped at home.
The Wests Tigers have pulled off an amazing comeback to record just their fourth win of the NRL season, as they downed the Penrith Panthers 20-18 at Centrebet Stadium.
It has been a season to forget for the Tigers as they have suffered a crippling injury toll combined with poor play due to the number of young players stepping up to the top grade.
But their victory over the Panthers will give them something to work with, as they showed heart to come back from 14 points down.
The home side jumped out to an early lead thanks to David Simmons, who scored his ninth try of the year for the Panthers to make it 6-0.
Wests claws back part of the deficit when David Nofoaluma crossed, but the Panthers extended their lead soon after when Mose Masoe barged his way through some soft Tigers’ tackling to make it 12-4.
Penrith look as though they might run away with the game when Dean Whare scored but Nofoaluma kept his side in touch when he crossed for his second, to make the score 18-8 to the Panthers at the break.
Neither side took control of the game in what was a scrappy start to the second half as both side’s defence is below par as easy metres are given up without the ball.
But the nature of the players and their season to date, meant they were only interested in attacking.
There were holes and chances for both sides to exploit their opposition with a try possibly either opening the game again or consolidating a lead.
The Tigers ran the ball on the last tackled before a kick back towards the middle of the field saw Ava Seumanufagai touch down just inside the dead-ball line.
With 26 minutes remaining and the score at 18-14 in favor of the home side, anything was
possible.
Curtis Sironen got to a bomb first for the Tigers but he was held up in-goal in what was a tremendous
defensive play by James Segeyaro.
However, Segeyaro undid some of his good work when he was was put on report for high contact on Benji Marshall as the game continued to be up for grabs.
Tim Simona then scored one of the best individual tries of the season, when he broke down the left wing to run 80 metres and beat five Panthers on the way to scoring .
Wests Tigers grabbed the lead with 11 minutes left when Marshall slotted the conversion to made the lead 20-18.
Penrith were forced to play catch-up football in the final moments of the game, but with their lack of structure and discipline, they were unable to travel the length of the field as they needed.
The Tigers climb off the bottom of the NRL ladder as a result of the win and they will look to keep up their winning form when they tackle Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium next weekend.
Penrith had won their last three games-in-a-row before this weekend, and they will look to start a new winning streak when they travel to Canberra to take on the Raiders.
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