NRL: Knights edge out Panthers

Junior Vaivai of the Panthers is tackled. Photo / Getty Images

Newcastle have run out 16-12 winners over Penrith in an error-ridden National Rugby League encounter at Ausgrid Stadium on Saturday.

In a game, certain not to make its way onto a classic matches DVD, the Knights - who were marginally less woeful than the Panthers - moved into the top eight with their sixth win of the season.

NSW stars Kurt Gidley and Akuila Uate backed up successfully from State of Origin, with Queensland's Petero Civoniceva doing likewise for the Panthers.

But the Panthers were without Luke Lewis, who failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained in Wednesday's clash at ANZ Stadium.

Neville Costigan broke the deadlock for the Knights with a try in the 17th minute - his second in as many games - burrowing his way over after the Panthers were penalised for holding in the tackle deep in their own half.

Penrith's approach play showed plenty of promise, but their inability to keep possession when in good position curtailed at least three scoring opportunities, with one wayward pass flying over the head of David Simmons and into the stands particularly memorable for the wrong reasons.

Young Knights' winger Peter Mata'utia, playing in place of the injured James McManus, provided some rare excitement when he was placed on report midway through the first half after catching Lachlan Coote high around the neck in a bone-shuddering hit on the diminutive fullback.

Kurt Gidley's penalty in front of the posts extended the Knights' lead to 8-0 just before halftime to round off an opening period which failed to warm up the crowd of 16,652.

The Panthers started the second stanza in perfect fashion when Masada Iosefa held onto a Luke Walsh pass, which looked suspiciously forward, to dart over the line, with Travis Burns adding the extras.

However, any hope of an improvement ended there, with both sides contributing to a crazy five-minute spell which would not have looked out of place in Shakespeare's play A Comedy of Errors.

The madness started when Wes Naiqama's fine 65th-minute run was halted by a David Simmons tackle which saw him cough up the ball.

The resulting scrum for the Panthers was then won against the feed by Richie Fa'aoso to hand the Knights possession once again.

However, Fa'aoso then turned from hero to villain.

Standing almost on top of the Panthers' tryline, Fa'aoso appeared to forget to play the ball, allowing the wily Civoniceva to simply push him over and steal possession.

Uate added some rare quality to proceedings with a fine try just after the hour mark following some good work from Gidley and Keith Lulia.

Coote had no way of stopping the Fijian-flyer as the Knights extended their lead to 14-6.

Iosefa added his second to make it 14-12 and set up a nervy finish for the home side seven minutes from time, but the Knights held on to seal the points.

One highlight for the Knights was the debut performance of 21-year-old five-eighth Ryan Stig, who showed some real glimpses of promise in an otherwise forgettable evening.

- AAP