It seems like Bathurst Panthers are stuck in their own version of Groundhog Day after a 30-22 Group 10 premier league loss to Blayney yesterday at King George VI Oval.

Two former Panthers players in Steve Lane and William ‘Bubba’ Kennedy torched the Bathurst side in a dazzling effort, with Todd Barrow’s team again missing a good opportunity to bag a much-needed third win.

The Lane-Kennedy combination was good for two tries, while Lane also scored a brilliant solo effort, as the Bears fought back from an early 12-point deficit.

A couple of lapses again cost Panthers  and their player-coach Todd Barrow was understandably disconsolate at full-time after his team had produced a determined but fruitless effort.

“I don’t know what to say,” Barrow lamented. “We knew we were going to have to play for 80 minutes and I think we did that, and there were a few wounded boys out there by the end of it. 

“Some bounces of the ball hurt us, and some missed tackles. I’m guilty of that and I’ll put my hand up straight away.

“Based on effort, I don’t think we deserved to lose.”

The signs were positive initially for Panthers as they crossed through Jeremy Gordon just five minutes into the game, the five-eighth producing a good solo effort to find the line before converting.

They doubled the lead when half Joey Bugg took the line on, beat two defenders and turned the ball inside for Jay McClintock, Gordon’s kick making it 12-0 as Blayney tried to find the on-switch.

It only took the Bears a few minutes to gain composure, however, and after a break by Leigh Monaghan, Lane produced his trademark sleight-of-hand to Kennedy with an almost invisible flick-pass to send him over.

As Panthers’ left edge began to look shaky, Josh Rainbow exploited some extra space to give Blayney their second and it was only a missed conversion from Cameron Dennis that left them trailing 12-10 after 20 minutes.

The game went into a slight lull thereafter, broken only when Brent Seager almost sent Jake Mooney into next week with a front-on shot.

Approaching the break, a quick shift to the right edge saw Barrow score the visitors’ third for a 16-10 lead before a touch of controversy on the stroke of half-time.

A kick from Gordon was fumbled by the Blayney defence and it appeared certain that winger Bradyn Cassidy had scored a legitimate try but it was disallowed, and they went to the break with a six-point lead.

Panthers started the second half terribly as Matt Woolmington spilled the kick-off, but it didn’t prove costly.

A turning point may have come in the 47th minute when Gordon missed a comfortable shot at a penalty goal for an eight-point lead.

Five minutes later, Dennis made a break on the right side, sent a speculative kick in-field which sat up perfectly for Terry Brown, who scored, and though Dennis missed an easy conversion it didn’t matter too much.

In the next set, back-rower Michael Nixon showed a surprising turn of foot to stroll through a gap and outrun the defence for a long-range special.

Panthers had a couple of half-chances to come back from 18-16 down, but they were up against it when Lane stepped twice and dummied to score himself.

Moments later the playmaker chipped, kicked again out of mid-air, and sent it right into the path of Kennedy, who dived on the ball untouched.

Greg Behan scored a consolation try with four minutes to go to give Panthers a sniff at 30-22 down but it didn’t amount to the miracle comeback they needed.

Bugg was a stand-out for his team while Gordon was also strong, with Jake Betts and Behan turning in their usual good performances.

For Blayney, Lane was superb while Terawhiti Cooper, Monaghan and Rainbow were all strong as the Bears continued to show they are a premiership force.

Barrow isn’t giving up hope but knows his side is running out of time.

“I’ve been in this situation before with other teams, you’re in a rut and you lose these close games where you actually play pretty well,” he said.

“We’re just finding it hard to do what we need to in order to win.”

BLAYNEY BEARS 30 (William Kennedy 2, Steve Lane, Terry Brown, Josh Rainbow, Michael Nixon tries; Cameron Dennis 3 goals) defeated BATHURST PANTHERS 22 (Jay McClintock, Jeremy Gordon, Greg Behan, Todd Barrow tries; Gordon 3 goals)