Penrith 24 Canterbury 10: Bulldogs’ season likely over

NATHAN Cleary inspired a Penrith victory that all but ended Canterbury’s season.

Cameron Ciraldo’s Dogs now rely on a matrix of results going their way after losing a high-quality match at Commbank Stadium, 24-10.

A key moment came when former Panther Matt Burton dropped a bomb in the 43rd minute and the ball held up perfectly for Panthers forward Liam Martin to cross near the posts.

Cleary added a conversion and, soon after, a penalty goal for a 16-4 lead.

The game came alive once more with Jacob Preston’s converted try but Cleary added another penalty and then centre Casey McLean crossed with 13 minutes to go.

Martin had scored the Panthers’  first try after seven minutes, with Burton providing the response 16 minutes before halftime.

PENRITH 24 (Martin 2 McLean tries Cleary 6 goals) beat CANTERBURY 10 (Burton Preston tries Crichton goal) at CommBank Stadium.

Teams:

PENRITH: Dylan Edwards; Tom Jenkins, Izak Tago, Casey McLean, Brian To’o; Jack Cole, Nathan Cleary (c); Moses Leota, Freddy Lussick, Liam Henry, Isaiah Papali’i, Liam Martin, Lindsay Smith. Res: Billy Scott, Scott Sorensen, Luke Garner, Billy Phillips, Blaize Talagi, Kalani Leuluai-Going.

CANTERBURY: Conor Tracey; Jacob Kiraz, Matt Burton, Broncos Xerri, Enari Tuala; Stephen Crichton (c), Lachlan Galvin; Max King, Bailey Haywood, Leo Thompson, Viliame Kikau, Jacob Preston, Jaiman Saeman. Res: Jake Turpin, Alek Jones, Harry Hayes, Cooper Toy.

Referee: Gerard Sutton.