Workies threatened an upset when they were able to fight back for a 10-all scoreline at half-time but an improved second half of football from the Bathurst side ensured they would return home as winners .

Panthers manager Danny Dwyer said Workies gave his side plenty of areas to focus on improving for their last two games of the season.

“The ground was heavy and the weather was cold out there,” he said.

“We were running into the wind for the first half so we knew we’d have that helping us in the second half but we weren’t consistent enough in the way we were playing to take full advantage of it.

“We had only 60 per cent completions in the first half. We were down 8-2 on penalties at one point, which didn’t help, and that allowed them to get themselves back into it. We had a few mistakes as well and we tried to go wide too often.

“We’ve just got to learn to be more patient.

“Our first up contact in defence is something to work on. Our defence has been good this year but in the last couple of games we’ve let ourselves down by not getting off the line quick enough.”

Panthers raced out to a 10-0 lead within 13 minutes thanks to tries from Mitch Davis and Nick Loader.

However, the visitors couldn’t keep the momentum going as Workies were able to level the scores back up thanks to two tries before half-time.

From there Panthers began to dictate terms as centre Blake Lawson scored just two minutes into the new half.

Jeremy Gordon took his side out to a 22-10 lead at the 50^th minute when he scored a try.

Workies threatened to mount a comeback when they found a four-pointer but Chris Shephard’s try in the corner with eight minutes to go sealed the deal. 

The result was much closer than the comfortable 40-6 win Panthers picked up over Workies at Carrington Park earlier this season. 

Dwyer said Workies were a much improved outfit this time around who continued to fight for a positive result until the dying stages.

“Lithgow were pretty good. Everything revolved around Jono Van Veen from the five-eighth position,” he said.

“They never gave up but they were probably a bit guilty of dropping too much ball as well.

“Jeremy Gordon was the best on field for us. He controlled things very well and even though he played at fullback he played a lot of first receiver as well.”

Panthers host Cowra Magpies next round before having a bye. They then finish their regular season with a trip away to the Mudgee Dragons.