Penrith have turned the NRL title race on its head with a miraculous last-gasp qualifying win over the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
A low-trajectory Jamie Soward field goal with less than 10 seconds left on the clock earned the Panthers an extraordinary 19-18 victory after the Roosters looked to have snatched the match just minutes earlier.
A solo try six minutes from fulltime to star halfback Mitchell Pearce, and a controversial conversion to five-eighth James Maloney, had given the Roosters an 18-12 lead.
But an incredible reply from the Panthers with three minutes remaining, followed by Soward’s late, late heroics sent Penrith’s travelling fans into a frenzy.
From a Soward grubber kick, young winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak somehow knocked the ball back from outside the field of play and centre Dean Whare pounced to score.
Soward then nailed the conversion from out wide before booting the ultimate drop goal winner to seal an amazing victory.
While the Panthers will enjoy next weekend off and sit one win away from a first grand final berth since winning the title in 2003, the Roosters now face a sudden-death showdown on Friday night against either North Queensland or Brisbane.
Compounding the Roosters’ woes was the first-half reporting of hard man prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for a swinging arm to the head of Penrith prop Brent Kite.
The dazed Kite failed to play any further part in the opening half after the ninth-minute incident and, when he did return after the break, he was sporting a black eye.
With Aidan Guerra only returning from suspension next week and Dylan Napa still having a game to serve on his two-match ban, the Roosters can ill afford to lose any more strike forwards at the judiciary.
In an action-packed but mistake-riddled first half, Penrith grabbed a 4-0 lead through a 26th-minute try to winger Josh Mansour after good lead-up work from Soward and centre Jamaal Idris and a brilliant 60-metre kick return from fullback Matt Moylan.
But a solo try on the half hour to former Penrith star Michael Jennings, and a sideline conversion from Maloney, earned the minor premiers a 6-4 halftime lead.
When the Panthers defence fell for Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s dummy to allow the Kiwi international to score, Ivan Cleary’s side suddenly trailed 12-4.
But 52nd-minute converted try to Whare and Soward penalty goal shortly after locked the game up at 12-12.
Twice the match seemed headed for golden point extra time – until Soward had the final say in sensational fashion.
