Canberra's late dash for an NRL finals spot is all but over after being pipped by Penrith 26-22 in an enthralling contest at GIO Stadium on Sunday.
The Raiders erased a 10-point half-time deficit to lead with eight minutes to go before unlikely Panthers rookie Tyrone May dived over from short range to steal a thrilling win.
The defeat ended the Raiders' four-game winning streak but, more importantly, leaves Ricky Stuart's side four points out of the top eight with two games to go.
They must now win both their matches against Newcastle and Melbourne and rely on either Manly or North Queensland losing both of theirs to quality for September action.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart blamed the defeat on their slow start, but lamented a lost opportunity to move within striking distance of the finals.
"I was really happy with the way we got back into that game, we should never have allowed getting up to that 20-10 (with) so much on the line," Stuart said.
"The first 25 minutes of the game let us down. If we had of played the first 25 minutes of the game the way we played the remainder of it (we're) probably not in this position."
For the Panthers, their seventh straight victory all but cements their finals spot and also keeps them in the hunt for a charge at the top four.
Not since their 2003 premiership triumph have the Panthers recorded seven wins on the trot.
Panthers coach Anthony Griffin hailed their performance as one of the best of the season.
"We had a chance to win it today in our own right, and then we had to win it again when they surged at us," he said.
"That's hard to do at this time of the year - win tight games of football twice. We'll take a lot of confidence out of that."
The Raiders were down 20-10 at halftime, but drew first blood in the second half when Jack Wighton dummied over for a try and Joe Tapine then crashed through from close range.
It was a near-flawless opening half from the Panthers, who put the early pressure on with a Waqa Blake try and Cleary penalty goal for an 8-0 lead.
Canberra responded through Nick Cotric, although Penrith restored the lead when Blake tore into the backfield for Cleary to finish off a 70-metre movement.
He converted his own try to become the youngest player to reach 200 points.
The Raiders again hit back thanks to Dave Taylor's miracle offload for Josh Papalii, but conceded a soft try to Josh Mansour just before the break.
