Penrith have booked a semi-final date with Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium after ending Manly’s season with a controversial 22-10 sudden-death win at Allianz Stadium.
With scores locked at 10-10 on Saturday night and six minutes remaining, Panthers centre Tyrone Peachey was awarded a try after a ricocheted Bryce Cartwright kick rebounded off his knee and chest before he scored.
There was a suggestion the ball could have brushed Peachey’s hand on the way from knee to chest, however the bunker was unable to find sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field call of try.
The Panthers then closed out the game through a Cartwright try in the final minute to wrap up a pulsating finals match and complete an individual double for the back-rower.
Cartwright had a hand in all three of Penrith’s tries after he scored in the first half, continuing an up-and-down year for the 22-year-old.
After they went to the break trailing 10-4, Manly twice thought they had drawn level early in the second half in front of a crowd of just 15,408 at Allianz Stadium.
The Sea Eagles were denied a crucial try when Dylan Walker was ruled to have been marginally offside, chasing a Blake Green grubber, before he put the ball down after the on-field call went up as a try.
Manly had another chance to level midway through the second half, but were again denied after Akuila Uate was ruled to have knocked on a Daly Cherry-Evans kick as he tried to ground it.
They finally hit back when Lewis Brown stepped through Penrith’s left-edge defence to lock the scores at 10-10 with 18 minutes to play.
Nathan Cleary was immense for the Panthers. He controlled the game perfectly in the closing stages while his two first-half penalty goals proved vital in the closing stages as they overturned last week’s round-26 loss to the Eagles.
He also set up Cartwright’s opening try in the first half, when he kicked for the upright for the back-rower to score after the Panthers had dominated first-half possession and territory.
Manly’s only try before the break came against the run of play when Matt Wright scooped up a Dallin Watene-Zelezniak fumble, before Tom Trbojevic kicked for Dylan Walker to score.
