BREAKING NEWS: Panthers suffer heart-breaking defeat to the Jets.

On Saturday afternoon, the NSW Cup Panthers were heartbroken to lose 20-16 at BlueBet Stadium.

The Panthers, facing the prospect of seven straight losses, got off to a bad start, failing to finish their second set and giving the Jets a great opportunity to attack three minutes into the game.

They were able to regain control of the early arm wrestle when Jayden Berrell made a mistake on the third tackle. They reached the halfway point of their subsequent set.

Upon joining this team again, Trent Toelau made an instant impression. He found grass in the goal with a short kick over the top of the Jets defense, and the Panthers’ kick chase resulted in a dropout.

The first point was scored in the eleventh minute when Isaiah Iongi, under pressure from Tom Rodwell, knocked down a Daniel Atkinson kick. Atkinson then pounced on the loose ball to score. Successful conversion, 0–6.

After a penalty, the Panthers had five tackles on the Jets line but were unable to gain any ground. Iongi then forced a dropout with a grubber kick on the last play. Once again, the Jets were let off the hook by a Panthers knock on after they went short.

After cutting the Panthers short on their right edge, the Jets were able to go inside their 20. Mawene Hiroti was tipped on by Liam Ison, who fended him off to get away and then bounced off two more defenders to score. Successful conversion, 0-12.

The Panthers had a chance to score in the first half after a line break by Nick Murphy within their own end, but Peachey could only force a dropout, which the Jets recovered.

Austin Dias scored the first goal for the Panthers in the second half with a strong run before Luke Sommerton crossed the line to score the game’s first goal. Successful conversion, 6–12.

The Jets were able to expand their lead to eight goals after a penalty from behind was successfully cushioned with a penalty goal.

Asu Kepaoa finally established a rhythm for the Panthers’ attack, dodging tackles and then attempting an offload that was rejected by the Jets and recovered by Mavrik Geyer, who scored the remaining points. Successful conversion, 12–14.

In the very next set, they extended their lead to three tries in eleven minutes when a shift to the left was handled by Iongi, Kepaoa, and Amituanai, who outran several opponents before crossing over to score and give the Panthers their first lead of the match. 16–14, failed conversion.

Throughout the second half, the roles between the two teams switched, with the Panthers playing nearly flawlessly in the opponent redzone and the Jets finding it difficult to convert when they had the chance.

With just four minutes remaining, the Jets finally got it right, as Chris Vea’ila broke through the line and then produced an incredible offload to Samuel Stonestreet. He dipped into the corner and completed an incredible acrobatic try to give the Jets a lead again, win Newtown 20-16, and collect the Wilson-Blacklock trophy.