A late David Simmons try ensured Penrith escaped with a 10-all draw in their trial against Parramatta in torrential rain at Centrebet Stadium tonight.
In a scrappy trial, the Panthers struggled to finish their sets and failed to keep up with an Eels outfit that looked far superior to the one bashed by the Wests Tigers last weekend.
But coach Ivan Cleary can take some joy out of the fact that Penrith has finished their three trial matches undefeated, with wins over the Tigers and Warriors in recent weeks.
The Eels took an early lead in the contest, with Jarryd Hayne collecting a great Chris Sandow kick to score and open up a 6-0 lead.
Penrith hit back though, with Wes Naiqama grabbing an intercept try to level the scores at 6-all.
The Eels scored again to ensure they took a 10-6 lead into the break, but neither side showed any real dominance in the second half as the game descended into a sloppy contest wih no real highlights.
Penrith would eventually level the scores, Simmons planting the ball down for a 78th minute try that gave Naiqama the chance to kick a goal for victory. The conversion attempt missed, leaving the scores level.
The Panthers have next weekend off before playing Canberra in round one of the season.
