League: Warriors just miss out

Campbell Preston bursts through the Warriors defence. Picture / Fotopress

Penrith 16 Warriors 14


Penrith won a tight, tough battle against the New Zealand Warriors 16-14 in their NRL match in Auckland today.

Both sides scored three tries in a seesawing encounter that went down to the wire at Ericsson Stadium.

The Warriors shot out to the lead after just three minutes on the back of a break by Wairangi Kopu that was finished off by fellow forward Karl Temata.

But Penrith hit back through centre Ben Pomeroy midway through the first half, when Koopu lost the ball in the tackle.

Warriors centre Todd Byrne had just gone off with an injury and Pomeroy exploited the space created by his marker's absence to cross.

The home side went back ahead in the final play of the spell, when Byrne broke past Penrith halfback Preston Campbell's tackle to dot down and maintain his run of a try in each his past five matches.

Halfback Stacey Jones' conversion gave the Warriors a 10-4 lead at the interval.

With the match turning into an arm wrestle, Penrith pulled level again 10 minutes after the restart.

They took full advantage of three consecutive sets with fullback Rhys Wesser scoring a converted try from dummy half close to the line.

The Panthers were again pressing when Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei, who turned in a solid overall performance, intercepted a Campbell pass and ran 90m to score.

Vatuvei, 19, extended his own personal sequence of his fourth touchdown in four appearances this season.

But with 15 minutes to go, Penrith hooker Luke Priddis silenced the home fans when his chip and regather brought him a try under the crossbar. Campbell converted to put Panthers ahead for the first time.

For the Warriors, Nathan Fien's switch from hooker to five-eighth lasted just 10 minutes. Fien went off after getting a boot in the face and needed stitches.

Result:
Penrith Panthers 16 (Ben Pomeroy, Rhys Wesser, Luke Priddis; Preston Campbell 2 goals)
New Zealand Warriors 14 (Karl Temata, Todd Byrne, Manu Vatuvei tries; Stacey Jones goal)

Halftime: 4-10