They had to wait six weeks before savouring their first win of the Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) season, now the One New Zealand Warriors have nailed their second win in as many games after stunning Penrith 28-22 at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday.
The upset result followed the Warriors’ 28-22 success against St George Illawarra in Wollongong last week.
Against Penrith, they conceded the first of two tries to visiting winger Nick Murphy after 11 minutes but then countered with rapid-fire tries to each of their wingers Robin Strong and Phranklyn Mano-Le-Mamea for a 12-4 lead.
By halftime it was trimmed to 12-8 through Murphy’s second try and then became a 12-14 deficit early in the second half after a converted Jaxon Edgar try.
It spurred the One New Zealand Warriors to produce what would be the match-winning phase of the contest featuring three players who started the season playing in the club's SG Ball Cup (under-19) side.
Match: Warriors v Panthers
Round 8 -
home Team
Warriors
12th Position
away Team
Panthers
7th Position
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Three tries flowed in the space of 13 minutes through interchange forward Alvin Ching-Nee (47th minute), centre Nganatatafu Vake (52nd minute) and fullback Motu Pasikala (60th minute). With two of them converted, the Warriors had gone from two points adrift to lead 28-14.
A late converted Blake Moore try dragged Penrith within eight points but the Warriors were home and safe for another well-earned victory.
After conceding an average of almost 40 points in their first three games of the season, the One New Zealand Warriors’ defence has improved vastly allowing an average of just 20 points in their last four matches.
