The NSW Cup Newcastle Knights have conjured another down-to-the-wire win, this time against the Wentworthville Magpies at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.
The victory is the third match this season with a result margin posted of three points or less.
“It was a nervous one and we came home late,” Lantry told Knights TV after the game.
“Once we got a fair share of possession and we tidied up some things defensively, the tide started to turn.
“We scored some good tries and were lucky enough to put them away at the end.”
The Knights headed into the break with a 10-point deficit which made Lantry determined to motivate the side to improve in two key areas.
“Our possession rate was down a little bit and we only completed at 56 per cent,” he said.
“Turning over some cheap ball was costly and they are a big powerful pack with some quality players, so their offloads were really hurting us and taking away plenty of juice.
“If we could tidy those two areas up, we knew we were a chance of getting back into the footy game, and to the boys credit, they hung in there and showed some real character."
Lantry said patience was the virtue that saw the Knights produce an eventual win.
“We sort of didn’t claw our way back into the game and particularly on the score board until late in that second half,” he said.
“They showed some real patience and some good execution and we crossed the line three or four times and it was either a dropped ball over the line or it was held up.
“We created enough opportunities, it was just about trying to get the ball down over the strip and we did.”
The match saw a number of the team’s interchange players make significant contributions to the game’s outcome.
“I thought James Taylor played his best game of the year,” he said.
“Danny Kerr also played an integral part of creating momentum for us around the play the ball.”
Meanwhile, halfback Jaelen Feeney relished the win earned after a gutsy second half comeback.
“We seem to have a habit of that, we’ve seemed to keep close games all our last games,” 21-year-old Feeney said.
“It’s full credit to our resilience, that’s a big focus at the Club.
“(Clint) Newton keeps pushing resilience and that never give up footy.
“But I know Matty Lantry is up in the box just stressing out every week after a win. I’m proud of the boys for sticking in there.”
Feeney said the side’s concerted effort on set completion in the second stanza stole the Knights’ a late lead.
“Our completion rate was about 56 per cent in the first half, so there was a really big focus on just completing and we ended turning that around with a 95 percent completion rate in the second,” he said.
“We knew if we were holding onto the ball we could put points on them.
“We stuck in there and held out and that’s how we got the win.
“They were a very big team and very physical and have big players from the wing straight forward to the middle and have quality players like Ryan Morgan and Pauli Pauli are there.
“It was good to get a win against a good team like them.”
This Sunday at 3pm the NSW Cup team take on the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Sportsground No.2. Entry is $5 per person.
