![Nathan Cleary after kicking one of his two field goals. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Nathan Cleary after kicking one of his two field goals. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/19ac4342-c356-4168-9b23-432bc5f4ef36.jpg/r0_0_3766_2511_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary kicked consecutive field goals to steal victory off Newcastle, booting Penrith to a thrilling 16-15 win in golden-point extra time at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
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Five-eighth Tyson Gamble looked to have set the Knights up for a famous win with a 76th-minute field goal, but Cleary kicked one of his own a minute later to make it 15-all.
There was controversy after he levelled the scores as he was taken out by Lachlan Fitzgibbon following the kick, which would have been a certain penalty had he missed the field goal.
Newcastle halfback Jackson Hastings and Cleary had failed attempts at a one-pointer before the game went to extra-time.
But just a minute into golden-point, Cleary kicked the match-winner from 39 metres out to leave Newcastle and the majority of the 26,084 fans in attendance heartbroken.
The Knights would have jumped into the top four if they won and will be ruing a litany of mistakes in the second-half after leading 14-6 at the break.
Tipped to be one of the competition's easy-beats again this year prior to the season, the Knights continued their gritty form early and had Penrith on their heels most of the first-half.
They completed 18 of 22 sets, compared to Penrith's 11 from 19, and not only out-ran, but generally out-enthused the visitors to dominate the first 40 minutes.
They earned a spirited "New-cas-tle" chant as they left the field at half-time following an entertaining opening period that had a bit of everything.
Dane Gagai was penalised for dissent, Dom Young watched a Cleary kick-off bounce dead, the referee sin-binned the wrong player - a decision which was overturned anyway after a Penrith challenge, and the Knights scored three tries to lead the defending premiers at the break for the first time in the past six encounters between the two sides.
![Dominic Young nearly scores at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday. Picture by Jonathan Carroll Dominic Young nearly scores at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday. Picture by Jonathan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/728dda29-5bff-4430-9bb3-e1588d610d75.jpg/r0_0_4258_2839_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But Newcastle endured a nightmare start to the second-half when fullback Lachlan Miller knocked on from the kick-off, and then failed to kick the goal-line dropout 10 metres.
The Knights avoided any immediate punishment and it proved a scrappy affair early in the second stanza with both sides making multiple errors.
Penirth kicked a penalty goal in the 54th minute to reduce the deficit to six points after Gamble clipped Cleary high, and it would be only another four minutes before they levelled the scores at 14-all.
Panthers utility Jaeman Salmon burst through on an angle to give Penrith the try they needed close to the goalposts a few plays after Tyson Frizell was penalised for pulling Jarome Luai's hair.
The visitors peppered Newcastle in the final quarter of the game but the Knights had a chance to hit the front when they received a penalty and opted to kick at goal, only for Miller to put it wide.
The result left Newcastle placed 11th and moved the Panthers into first.
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