Bathurst Panthers have stayed within reach of the Group 10 premier league top five after beating a dogged Oberon Tigers side 28-16 yesterday.

Aside from a 10-minute period in the first half where Oberon hit back from a 12-point deficit to get back to 12-10, the home side controlled the majority of the match on their home turf at Carrington Park.

It was their second win of the season following a victory against Mudgee three weeks ago and took some hard work, as Oberon defended their line well throughout and only really drifted out of the contest in the last 20 minutes.

There was still a feeling of inevitability about the end result though, and Panthers manager Danny Dwyer said that there were a lot of positives to take from the game despite a worrying injury toll.

“Our completion rate in the first half was above 70 per cent which is about as good as it has been this year and we felt watching the game that we always had a bit of an edge,” he said.

“But Oberon looked dangerous at times and did put us under pressure for a little while.

“Going into half-time with the score at 12-10 felt like a fair outcome from our point of view and fortunately we were able to take our chances when we got them in the second half.”

Both sides had some injury concerns with Panthers especially feeling the brunt of it, as they lost Blake Lawson within the first seven minutes of the match. 

Winger Jay McClintock ended up on the sidelines, along with Luke Carpenter early in the second half.

Early on, Panthers were camped on the Tigers’ line for the best part of 10 minutes and looked certain to score several times but couldn’t turn their dominance into points, and Oberon’s Ben Newstead almost stunned them with an intercept try.

He was ruled to have been offside, however.

Some more determined goal-line defence kept Panthers out, but it looked to be just a matter of time until they got on the board and in the 15th minute they did as quick hands saw Josh Small cross in the left corner.

Moments later interchange forward Jed Betts carried a couple of defenders over to put his team further ahead, and at 12-0 it looked like the floodgates could open.

Oberon weren’t going to lie down though, and fullback Blake Miller produced a nice individual effort to get his team back in the game 13 minutes from half-time.

In the next set, a kick to Panthers custodian Sandon Gibbs-O’Neill was grassed and two plays later a perfect kick from Trent Guihot found winger Jayden Fagg to score Oberon’s second.

Blake Fitzpatrick missed the sideline conversion, but at 12-10 it was game on.

The second half began with both teams trading errors and multiple penalties, but Panthers were starting to win the territorial battle, and they reasserted themselves in the 53rd minute thanks to a big charge to the line by prop Greg Behan to go ahead 18-10.

Ten minutes later Betts scored his second to almost put the game out of Oberon’s reach, and the act was completed by Matt Woolmington shortly afterwards.

Oberon scored a consolation try late to Joel Christie-Johnston.

Jake Betts was a clear standout yet again for Panthers and along with Behan would be jostling for the lead in their best and fairest to date, while Joey Bugg at half-back had his best game of the season.

Second-rower Max Wolfson was also strong, as was Chris Shephard.

For Oberon, Dave Sellers at lock, Miller at the back and their halves Blake Fitzpatrick and Guihot were both enterprising at times.

BATHURST PANTHERS 28 (Jed Betts 2, Josh Small, Greg Behan, Matt Woolmington tries; Jeremy Gordon 4 goals) defeated OBERON TIGERS 16 (Jayden Fagg, Blake Miller, Joel Christie-Johnston tries; Blake Fitzpatrick 2 goals)