A SLOW start from Bathurst Panthers has ultimately cost the club a victory over Mudgee Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
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The visiting Mudgee outfit raced out to 28-0 lead in the round four Peter McDonald Premiership match at Carrington Park, with the Panthers able to score some consolation tries late on in the second half to finish 32-18.
Panthers skipper Jake Betts said a slow start ultimately cost his team a chance of getting a result.
"I can't put my finger on what happened today, but we just started slow," he said.
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"We've done it the past three weeks and you can't let a quality side like Mudgee start like that and expect to claw them back.
"We played some good footy in 10-15 minute periods but it's first grade. You can't get away with playing 15 minutes worth of good footy and 60-70 minutes of crap house footy.
"We've got to put together a full 80 minute performance. It might've been an attitude problem, but we'll come together and work on it during the week."
Mudgee halfback Jack Littlejohn was the star player for the visitors, having the Panthers on the back foot for large periods of his game thanks his passing and kicking game.
"He's a class footballer and kicked us out of the game. He controlled the game really well and it showed today," Betts said.
While his team won by 16 points, Littlejohn was disappointed that Mudgee allowed Panthers back into the game with three tries.
"It was disappointing. Realistically, we should've beaten them by a little bit more," he said.
"We went away from what we were doing well in the first half. We probably tried to play too much footy and go around them. We dropped the ball, gave away penalties and our fitness level let them back into it."
That aside, Littlejohn said the result gives his team some good confidence as they return to Bathurst next Sunday to play St Pat's.
"I think the way we defended, we were really good," he said.
"It's definitely a confidence boost."
MUDGEE DRAGONS 32 (Corin Smith 3, Nathan Orr, Jake Gale, Billy Carberry tries; Lee Hicks 4 goals) defeated BATHURST PANTHERS 18 (Keelan Bresac, Jackson Carter, Jake Betts tries; Carter 3 goals)
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