Penrith local Bryce Cartwright scored after the siren to steal a dramatic 20-18 local derby win over Parramatta on Sunday.
Halfback Jamie Soward hoisted a hail mary cross-field kick on the final play of the game, which was taken by a soaring Waqa Blake, who then passed back for Cartwright to silence the 15,600 crowd at Pirtek Stadium.
Cartwright bagged two tries in a strong outing that showed why he's in contention for higher honours.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin hailed his side's composure after the match, having watched his side agonisingly lose three of their opening four NRL games by eight points or less.
Their only previous win came from a Te Maire Martin field goal against Brisbane a fortnight ago.
"It was just another week at the Panthers. We're going one for one at the moment. Bulldogs beat us on the last play and that's just been our last month. So it was nice to get one tonight," Griffin said.
Penrith appeared headed for yet another close defeat when Eels hooker Isaac De Gois received the perfect bounce from a 66th minute Clinton Gutherson chip to break a 12-12 deadlock.
But, aided by a crucial bunker overturn, the Panthers set up a grandstand finish when Josh Mansour went over in the 76th minute, only for Soward's sideline conversion to sail wide.
A relieved Griffin said his team didn't deserve to lose another heartbreaker.
"There's been an awful amount of effort over the last month for one result ... We just weren't getting what I thought we deserved and it was just a great credit to them that they kept sticking at it," he said.
Earlier, both sides were denied tries in a tightly-fought first half.
It was Eels prop Junior Paulo who was the unlikely source of first points, crashing over from close range in the 23rd minute, before Cartwright wrestled his way over to level the scores at the break.
His try ended a 197-minute defensive stand where the Eels conceded just one try.
Eels coach Brad Arthur said his team only had themselves to blame after spurning a handful of opportunities in the second half, including a blown Gutherson try.
"We can't keep costing ourselves opportunities like that. We were able to mount some pressure down there but just couldn't come up with that final pass and that final execution," he said.
