Broncos break Panthers' hearts in Brisbane

The Brisbane Broncos have inflicted a heart-breaking 8-5 victory over the Penrith Panthers in front of 30,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.

The Broncos welcomed back Darius Boyd, while the Panthers welcomed back stars Jamie Soward and Elijah Taylor. The impact of Soward's return was on show immediately when he looked to have scored but was denied at the last stage by the Video Referees who found a knock on and overturned a live onfield decision of a try.

Both sides pressured their opponents defensive line but neither side could crack it and it wasn't until the half hour mark that Justin Hodges milked a penalty to help his side up field and Jordan Kahu finished it off with a try in the corner to take a 4-0 lead. On the stroke of half time Matt Moylan slotted a penalty goal from near enough to the touch line to bring the score back to 4-2 at halftime.

The second half was a repeat of the first with massive defence on show from both teams and it wasn't until a silly penalty from Josh McGuire that we saw the first points of the second half through another Matt Moylan penalty goal to level the scores.

It was going to be a case of who could get the lead first and who could on to it and it was the Panthers who did that when Moylan slotted a field goal to give the Panthers a 5-4 lead. The Panthers looked set to hold on to a gutsy victory however a last minute try to Corey Oates off a pass that some believed was forward to seal the heartbreaking victory for the Broncos.

Despite the odd score the talking point of the match is a horrible spear tackle by Tyrone Peachey on Alex Glenn The tackle has raised controversy, with many fans wondering why the Panthers utility wasn't sent off by referee Matt Cecchin given the tackle occurred after Cecchin had already blown the whistle to rule a knock on against the Panthers.

Another talking point is the fact that, after the match, the usually cool and calm Ivan Cleary launched a scathing attack on the games referees Matt Cecchin & Gavin Reynolds. Cleary's fury was fired mainly at Cecchin, after a number of questionable calls against the Panthers. The first of these calls was a penalty against Moylan for dangerous contact in the air, when replays showed Moylan did nothing illegal. The second issue was a line dropout call against Moylan, who was a least a metre over the dead-ball line when he took the ball, yet Cecchin called a dropout rather than the required 20m restart.

The Panthers will look to move on from this heartbreaking defeat and have a well-deserved 10 day break when they take on the Manly Sea Eagles on Monday week at Brookvale Oval, whilst the Broncos will back up to their usual Friday night slot with a game against the Cowboys in Townsville.

Match Details

Brisbane Broncos 8 Penrith Panthers 5
Venue: Suncorp Stadium
Crowd: 24566
Halftime Score: Brisbane Broncos 4 Penrith Panthers 2

BRISBANE BRONCOS (8)
Tries: Jordan Kahu, Corey Oates
Field Goals: Ben Hunt (0/1)
Conversions: Corey Parker (0/2)
Penalty Goals:

PENRITH PANTHERS (5)
Tries:
Field Goals: Matt Moylan (1/1)
Conversions:
Penalty Goals: Matt Moylan (2/2)

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:

3 points - Jamie Soward
2 points - Ben Hunt
1 point - Matt Moylan

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

Big game for both sides tonight as we enter the second third of the 2015 season. As such, both sides have made significant changes coming into this one - and they're good reading on both sides' teamsheets!

BRONCOS - as reported through the week, Darius Boyd is back for the six-time premiers who will host tonight's game. This pushes Jordan Kahu to the wing, Corey Oates to the bench, and sees Francis Molo left out.
PANTHERS - lynchpin five-eighth Jamie Soward makes a surprise return from injury, as does Elijah Taylor. They are direct replacements for Will Smith and Sika Manu, who are both omitted.

Here are the Panthers onto the field at Suncorp Stadium - lead out by new captain Lewis Brown

1: PLAY UNDERWAY at Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos will have the first use of the steeden

4: A beautiful crossfield run from Hodges before a good pass almost sees the Broncos slice through but a DWZ cover tackle stops

6: The Broncos go 80m in the set after the no try decision and almost score but Kahu was held up ingoal on the last and now the Panthers work away and find touch 12m from the broncos line

10: End to end stuff before the Panthers concede a penalty late in the tackle count to let Brisbane inside the Panthers 20

13: A Penalty for the Broncos after DWZ caught Darius Boyd high when challenging the ball in the air helps them away from their own line

13: PENALTY PANTHERS: Lachlan Maranta makes no attempt to catch the ball and knocks David Simmons in the air and the Panthers get their first of the night

13: Panthers on the attack in a good set but Jamie Soward throws an average pass and its intercepted by the Broncos

19: Panthers now working it from their own line after the NO TRY ruling against the Broncos

20: UNFORCED ERROR BRISBANE BRONCOS
Anthony Milford makes an unforced error.
Kick goes high from the Broncos but the bounce isn't cleaned up by Milford and Panthers get the ball

20: Repeat set coming up for the Panthers after Matt Moylan's kick is taken dead by Darius Boyd

25: PENALTY BRONCOS: Matt Moylan is penalised somewhat harshly for dangerous contact in the air according to Matt Cecchin, despite replays showing it was a clean strip in the air

29: Panthers again penalised somewhat harshly this time for dragging the tackled player over the sideline after held was called

35: Another tough penalty against the Panthers sees the Broncos upfield

35: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Jordan Kahu. Kick to come.
Green lights for Jordan Kahu in the corner and the Broncos break the deadlock

39: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker unsuccessful.
Corey Parker misses the conversion from the sideline

39: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS
Penalty goal attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
Matt Moylan slots a penalty goal from the sideline to close the gap to 2 and its 4-2 at the break

39: Lets go says Matt Cecchin and the second half is underway

41: Good opening set for the Panthers and the Broncos have to work it out from their own 10m zone

42: Appeals for a penalty from the Broncos but none from Matt Cecchin who calls it for early contact on the defender by Waqa Blake

46: Panthers kick on the last is average and the Broncos come away with it

49: UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS
Tyrone Peachey makes an unforced error.
Panthers make a big chance but a drop ball from Tyrone Peachey kills an almost certain try

50: PENALTY PANTHERS: Broncos penalised by Matt Cecchin for being too long on the tackled player

51: Again the Panthers go close but the Broncos defence has been up to the task all night

54: Another set for the Panthers deep in the Broncos attacking zone after a knock on is called against Corey Parker

55: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS
Penalty goal attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
From right infront Matt Moylan slots the penalty goal and levels the scores

68: Not much has happened, Tyrone Peachey on report, Panthers concede two dropouts (second controversial), then Alex Glenn is held up over the line

68: Panthers hold up the Broncos ingoal again, tackle 4 can the Panthers withstand this pressure again

70: Video Referee's again say NO TRY - this time a knock on the ruling against Jack Reed, 20m restart for the Panthers

70: Panthers go high on the kick but Kahu takes it on his own line and the Broncos have to work it away

72: A close call for the Panthers but a knock on is called by the referees, Broncos now on the attack

74: UNFORCED ERROR BRISBANE BRONCOS
Justin Hodges makes an unforced error.
Hodges loses the ball and the Panthers go on the attack

75: SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS
Field goal attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
Matt Moylan slots the field goal to take the lead to 5-4

76: UNSUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL BRISBANE BRONCOS
Field goal attempt by Ben Hunt unsuccessful.
Ben Hunt misses the field goal from infront, Panthers still lead

80: TRY BRISBANE BRONCOS
Scored by Corey Oates. Kick to come.
Corey Oates has won it for the Broncos with a last minute try

80: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION BRISBANE BRONCOS
Conversion attempt by Corey Parker unsuccessful.
Parker misses the conversion but it doesn't matter