Cowboys 20 Panthers 28
Penrith leapfrogged North Queensland into sixth on the NRL ladder with a gutsy 28-20 win at Dairy Farmers Stadium last night.
New South Wales State of Origin centre Michael Jennings bagged a hat-trick as the Panthers notched their ninth win in 12 matches in Townsville.
In a see-sawing match, the Panthers came home the stronger, twice pegging back the lead to record a stirring victory.
Carl Webb was gifted a try in the 57th minute when he cleaned up a scrappy Panthers attempt to diffuse a Johnathan Thurston kick, scoring next to the posts before watching his captain pot the extras for a 16-10 advantage.
But two tries in five minutes, through Jennings and the impressive Jarrod Sammut, saw Penrith take the lead for the first time.
The match looked headed for golden point when John Williams crossed out wide in the 74th minute but Thurston fluffed his attempted conversion well short of the posts.
Jennings iced the cake for the Panthers right on fulltime, cleverly pouncing on a Cowboys error and racing 40m to score.
The home side enjoyed the early running, going ahead 10-0 after 26 minutes through tries to Thurston and Willie Tonga.
Jennings started the first revival by crossing off a Luke Walsh grubber in the 33rd minute, while video referee Sean Hampstead awarded a contentious try to Michael Gordon in the final minute of the half to ensure a 10-10 deadlock at the break.
Panthers 28 (M Jennings 3, M Gordon, J Sammut tries; Gordon 4 gls) Cowboys 20 (J Thurston, W Tonga, C Webb, J Williams tries; Thurston 2 gls).