Panthers had a half-time lead of 9-4 but Oberon raced ahead to get it out to 20-9 on the back of some poor discipline from the Bathurst team. 

Panthers rallied late to get within a point, though a Panthers’ try disallowed on the siren was a lucky break for an Oberon side that had switched off for the final 10 minutes.

Panthers played the better football for the opening 40 minutes, but only had a five-point lead to show for it after a Blake Dean field goal right before half-time.

After 10 minutes had passed in the second half, disaster struck for the Panthers when Oberon made a break through the Bathurst line.

When that was stopped, the Panthers scrambled back in defence. Jake Betts tried to slow down play to help that cause, but held on too long for the referee’s liking and soon found himself sin binned.

Oberon made the Panthers pay for being a man down, and it was a familiar face that inflicted the most damage.

While Betts sat on the sidelines,  Katon Crawford – the man who left the Panthers to find consistent Premier League play in Oberon – put in a double that would ultimately cost the Panthers dearly.

Oberon coach Scott Traynor said his side’s scrappy ending took some gloss off the round one win.

“Our completion rate wasn’t fantastic. Fitness was an issue for us but we actually played better in the second half than we did in the first,” he said.

“We scored two tries when they had a player in the bin. We had them at 20-9 with 10 minutes to go but we let them right back into it.”

Panthers coach John Fearnley said his team had opportunities to put the game away.

“It was a really frustrating game. We had two or three tries called for forward passes, but that’s just footy,” he said.

“Our goal kicking wasn’t good though, with just the one goal from six.

“Bubba Kennedy had three tries disallowed. It’s just frustrating as a coach knowing we could have gone into half-time at 20 points ahead.”

Fearnley couldn’t pin the loss on a slew of forward pass calls against his side, saying that Oberon presented them with as many chances, but only one side made the most of it. 

“There were plenty of 50-50 calls but Oberon made the most of the ones that went their way, and we didn’t,” he said.

“I can’t criticise our effort but I can be critical of our execution. We talked about the need to win in tight games because last year we lost on a lot of tight games and ... here was another one.”

There were some good signs for the Panthers as Luke Carpenter excelled in his first game back from injury, and the halves combination of Blake Dean and Joey Bugg received praise from Fearnley.

OBERON TIGERS 20 (Katon Crawford 2, Zac Rowlinson, Reece Finlay tries; Blake Fitzpatrick 2 goals) def BATHURST PANTHERS 19 (Josh Small, Mitch Davis, Bubba Kennedy, Luke Carpenter tries; Josh Small goal; Blake Dean field goal)