Match Details
Match Date	1st Aug, 2014
Opponent	Penrith
Result	Loss 16-22
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	Michael Ennis
Venue	Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd	11,832
Referee	Matt Cecchin David Munro

They were meant to capitulate, having supposedly already run their race.

They had lost their skipper and halfback for the rest of the season, and their difficult run home was meant to see them unravel over the final six weeks of the regular season. The Panthers were done with, apparently.

But the character of Ivan Cleary’s no-nonsense football team came to the fore against Canterbury on Friday night, overcoming injuries to Elijah Taylor and Bryce Cartwright to topple the Bulldogs 22-16 at ANZ Stadium.

Granted, Canterbury were hard done by. They could have easily gone into half-time with a two-try lead, but they had a number of contentious video refereeing decisions go against them in front of a furious crowd of 11,832.

The Panthers and Bulldogs came into the game holding on to third and fourth positions respectively, with the loser knowing full well they were likely to drop out of the top four if they didn’t buck a two-game losing streak.

Josh Reynolds’ return from suspension for his first game since Origin III did little to help the stuttering Bulldogs, who could drop to as low as sixth on the ladder by the end of the weekend after three straight defeats.

Having already lost Peter Wallace for the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered in last week’s loss to Cronulla, the news got even worse for Ivan Cleary when two more players joined the club’s rehabilitation ward. Taylor suffered the same injury as Wallace, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament stretching to catch a pass in the first half, while Cartwright injured his ankle under the tackle of Greg Eastwood.

The Bulldogs were livid with the officials after they had three tries controversially disallowed by video referees Steve Clark and Ben Galea in the first half.

The first proved costly, with Chase Stanley leaving the field with a dislocated shoulder after the video referees couldn’t find enough evidence to overturn the on-field try decision as the centre dived over in the corner.

Corey Thompson was then denied in the opposite corner after the video referees deemed Reni Maitua had obstructed Jamal Idris. The small but vocal crowd then erupted when Tim Lafai was denied what looked like a legitimate try. However, the video referees found separation between hand and ball on its way to the ground.

But coach Des Hasler has bigger problems to worry about than the officials, with his side showing little energy or rhythm at the time of the year they should be hitting their straps.

A push and shove between Michael Ennis and Soward led to Penrith’s first points, with James Segeyaro burrowing his way over from close range to give the visitors a 6-0 advantage.

The video referee was a lot kinder to the Panthers in the second half, unable to find a reason to deny Segeyaro his second after he cleaned up the crumbs from a Soward grubber that Sam Kasiano was unable to control.

A sweeping backline play then led to more Panthers points, with Josh Mansour scoring his 12th try of the season in his first game back from an ankle injury, before Matt Moylan crossed to make it a 22-0 scoreline.

Tim Lafai, Kasiano and Trent Hodkinson all crossed late, but the match was already away from the Bulldogs.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

LINE UP