The Canterbury Bulldogs Jersey Flegg side completed a late comeback to secure a 28-28 draw against a strong Penrith Panthers outfit at Bankwest Stadium.
With the home side able to defeat the competition leaders last week, they looked to take out another top four team, in the third place Penrith Panthers.
Penrith began strong through centre Jake Tago, who was able to ground the ball from a short grubber by winger Justin Jones.
Halfback Brendan Hands converted to take his side to an early six-point lead.
The Bulldogs threatened to equalise, however Glenn Mcgrady had other plans, as he intercepted a Canterbury pass to score a 90m try.
Hands was successful in his conversion attempt to extend Penrith’s lead to two converted tries.
The Panthers were proving to be the stronger side in the first half, as they further increased their lead in quick succession, through a long range try for Justin Jones.
The home side answered with their first try of the day almost immediately, through a solo effort by halfback Jake Averillo, who successfully converted his own try.
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The Bulldogs continued their comeback through a stunning ball over the defence by five-eighth Alex Seve to winger Frank Kuresa to touch down in the corner.
Averillo converted his side’s second try from the corner to decrease the margin to a converted try.
Just before the half time break, the Panthers were able to halt Canterbury’s attempted comeback through Charlie Staines, whose try was converted again by Hands to take a 24-12 lead at half time.
Early pressure in the second half didn’t phase the home side, as the Bulldogs took the first points, reducing the lead again to six points, through five-eighth Alex Seve.
The conversion was successfully taken again by halfback Averillo.
In similar fashion to the first half, Penrith were able to extend their lead yet again through an overlap, allowing Luke Geary to stroll over in the corner.
Hands was unsuccessful for the first time in the game, keeping the score at 28-18.
With the second half scoring following a similar path to that of the first half, it was no surprise that the Dogs were able to bite back through a second try for Jake Averillo.
The halfback continued his flawless kicking as he converted is own try again to lessen the margin to four.
The Bulldogs completed their comeback with a brilliant long pass by Seve to his winger Frank Kuresa, who was able to get around the Penrith defence and finish in the corner on the buzzer.
Halfback Jake Averillo just swayed his attempt to the right to end the thrilling game at 28-a-piece at Bankwest Stadium.
