ST Pat’s have put themselves within reach of a Group 10 first division grand final appearance thanks to a comeback victory over Bathurst rivals Panthers at Carrington Park on Saturday.
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Panthers looked in complete control with a 16-0 lead at the break but the men in blue fought back to find an 18-16 win at the death.
The home side outscored the Saints four tries to three but their missed conversions came back to haunt them.
Brent Dennis, who scored the Saints’ first try, said it was a great effort from his side to bring themselves back into the contest.
“Credit to Panthers. They had a really good first half and we couldn’t have had many more than five sets in that half. They got a couple lucky bounces of the ball but that came off the back of their efforts,” he said.
“We were still confident going into half-time. We just had to ride out their motivation, and them missing those kicks helped us out a bit.
“Once we got some older heads out there we got some motivation back and got into the groove a little bit. It was very physical for a reserve grade game.”
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Ben Dolan, Braydon Wicks, Jason Hewitt and Adrian Averio all scored in a dominant 20 minute window for the Panthers to give them the half-time advantage.
Dennis scored the Saints’ first points within the opening five minutes of the new term and it began to steer momentum back in his team’s favour.
Trent Hemsworth and Bailey Waldron scored in quick succession midway through the half and it was game on again.
Chris Osborne was successful on two of his conversions and that left the teams level at 16-all.
Osborne then nailed a penalty goal at the death to find what looked to be an unlikely victory at the halfway point of the contest.
Pat’s will now take on minor premiers Orange Hawks for a shot at the grand final while Panthers face elimination semi-final winners Orange CYMS in their bid to stay alive.
ST PAT’S 18 (Brent Dennis, Trent Hemsworth, Bailey Waldron tries; Chris Osborne 2 conversions; Osborne penalty) defeated BATHURST PANTHERS 16 (Ben Dolan, Braydon Wicks, Jason Hewitt, Adrian Averio tries)
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