Hazem El Masri's last-gasp conversion sealed a 28-26 victory for the Bulldogs against Penrith in a dramatic NRL encounter at CUA Stadium on Saturday.

El Masri converted Ben Roberts' 78th-minute try eight metres inside the touchline to break the Panthers' hearts and maintain the pressure on coach Matt Elliott.

The result was a cruel one for the hosts, who had held an eight-point lead at half-time.

Second-rower Trent Waterhouse's second try of the night in the 68th minute had given the Panthers a 26-22 lead and looked set to give them for their first victory of the season.

Trailing 20-12 at half-time, midweek recruit Greg Eastwood capped a fine second-half comeback by when he scored in the 51st minute to put Bulldogs ahead 22-20.

The Kiwi international pounced on a grubber kick from former Brisbane teammate Michael Ennis which had rebounded off the base of the post.

Another former Bronco, David Stagg, scored a crucial try in the first half to keep the Bulldogs in touch and released teenage sensation Jamal Idris to begin the second-half fightback.

The Bulldogs took an early lead through veteran halfback Brett Kimmorley but were pegged back for large parts of the first half as Paul Aiton, Brad Tighe and Waterhouse all scored for the home team.

The Bulldogs endured a horror first half, Ennis twice kicking the ball out on the full from kick-offs and Kimmorley also kicking a ball out on the full just before half-time.

Only Josh Morris' tap back from missed bomb which allowed Stagg to score kept the Bulldogs in touch.

Kimmorley's opener came when the Bulldogs spread the ball on the fifth tackle in the seventh minute, Ennis sending centre Morris into the clear before he fed the ball inside to the former Shark.

But it was pretty much all Panthers from then on, with Petero Civoniceva's clever backhand offload in the 12th minute to Aiton levelling scores.

The Panthers then had two try appeals dismissed by the video referee before it was third time lucky for the Panthers when Luke Patten missed a bomb and the ball worked its way to centre Brad Tighe.

He sold Kimmorley a big dummy before dragging two Bulldogs over the line to score.

Another missed bomb brought the Bulldogs back into the match when Josh Morris tapped the loose ball back to Stagg with 28 minutes gone.

But, despite fumbling the ball twice, Waterhouse held on to crash over with 30 gone to restore Penrith's eight-point lead going into the break.

After the Bulldogs' early double in the second half, Waterhouse appeared to have sealed victory for the embattled Panthers before Roberts and El Masri's late heroics.

El Masri said he was pleased to have slotted the crucial goal, especially after failing to convert Idris' try earlier in the second half.

"It was good, it was up there obviously," he said.

"It was a bit disappointing missing the other one, we wouldn't have been in that position otherwise.

"It was a pressure kick, I owe it to the boys, I struck it very well and just awesome ... just glad to get the two points."

The NRL will investigate post-match claims the Bulldogs fielded a 14th player at some point in the final three minutes, but Elliott refused to label that as the reason for the defeat.

"I've been made aware of it but I don't have a take on it ... that's not an issue for Penrith to worry about, that's for the NRL and the Bulldogs to discuss," he said.

"Our execution in places is not where it needs to be, that's not entirely unexpected.

"I know we've been dismissed at the moment not even being looked at, but I feel immensely confident that if we keep putting in that amount of effort, with the quality that we've got around the park, our cohesion will come.

"We're on the bottom of the comp at the moment but we're not far off being on four points."

Elliott claimed the only injuries the Panthers had suffered were "17 broken hearts" but for the Bulldogs there is a concern, with forward Gary Warburton sent to hospital for scans on a neck injury.

"I think at the moment we're thinking it might be okay but obviously we'll wait for the results of the scans that he's having," Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore said.

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