Booed but Moylan gets last laugh

MATT Moylan enjoyed the last laugh at Panthers Stadium while giving Cronulla’s top- four hopes a significant boost with a 24- 12 win over former club Penrith last night.

Once the golden child of Penrith’s young brigade of talent, Moylan was booed from the moment he entered the field to the fulltime siren by the majority of 11,742 fans last night.

But it did little to hinder his performance as he scored his first try in Cronulla colours and then put Valentine Holmes away to seal the win with four minutes left.

After Penrith trailed 12- 2 at halftime and hit back through Waqa Blake after the break, Moylan ran onto a Scott Sorensen inside ball for an 18- 6 lead.

Penrith hit back through Corey Harawira- Naera with 11 minutes to play, but Moylan ended any hopes of a comeback when he dummied and sliced his way through from within his own half to put Holmes over.

He finished the game with 105m and five tackle busts, enough to potentially force his old club out of the top four for the first time since round three if the Sydney Roosters win well over the Gold Coast tomorrow. The win also moves the Sharks level with Penrith on 24 points, but still behind on for- and- against as part of a sixteam logjam between third and eighth separated by only one win.

In a heated affair that saw Andrew Fifita push Penrith’s Jack Hetherington up the tunnel at halftime, Penrith scored the opening points through a penalty goal before Sione Katoa got Cronulla’s first try.

Moylan then had his first serious impact, providing a short ball for Wade Graham who turned it back inside for Holmes to have his first try before halftime.

In last night’s second game the Knights downed Parramatta 18- 16, with a second- half penalty goal from Ken Sio proving the difference.