Panthers roll over Wests Tigers 26-18

A Lachlan Coote double helped Penrith join St George Illawarra at the top of the NRL
ladder after a hard fought 26-18 win over the Wests Tigers at CUA Stadium.
In a high quality battle, which didn't live up to the pre-match expectation of a
scoring fest, the Panthers scored four tries to three, with Michael Gordon booting
five from five, in front of a crowd believed to be the biggest at the foot of the
Blue Mountains since 2004.
Instead, the 19,220 fans were treated to an arm wrestle between two of the
competition's early high-flyers.
The result means Penrith join the Dragons, who play the Sydney Roosters on Sunday,
on ten points with five wins from seven games, including four straight.
The Panthers led 14-12 at the break and it stayed that way until Coote's second in
the 64th minute, superbly laid on by in-form lock Luke Lewis.
Tigers interchange forward Mark Flanagan helped his side back to 20-18 in the 70th.
But Gordon clinched the deal when he grabbed a Luke Walsh bomb in the 74th minute.
The Panthers had forced the Tigers to play catch-up in the first half.
Penrith were on the board in just the fifth minute when Frank Pritchard offloaded
for Coote's first try, but six minutes later the Tigers posted a contender for try
of the year.
A Robbie Farah bust began an 80-metre effort finished by Chris Heighington, with
Lote Tuqiri also showing superb hands in the movement.
Michael Jennings helped the home side to 12-6 with a superb solo effort from dummy
half in the 26th minute before Benji Marshall put Chris Lawrence through a hole
seven minutes later.