The Canberra Raiders comeback fell dramatically short after the Parramatta Eels claimed a 25-24 victory in golden point at Bankwest Stadium.
The Raiders found themselves down by 12 with less than five minutes remaining, but a quickfire double from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad gave the Raiders life.
The Eels were first to score through Ryan Matterson after just five minutes, on the back of penalty conceded from Jordan Rapana.
Parramatta almost crossed for their second shortly after, but Mitchell Moses tap on was ruled to have travelled forward.
The Raiders successfully challenged a call by referee Ashley Klein after George Williams was ruled not to be offside and were forced to work from their red zone.
Canberra were able to survive a plethora of Parramatta pressure after the Eels were denied by the bunker once again after an error by Dylan Brown.
A forward pass by Parramatta Reed Mahoney gifted the Raiders their best field position of the night and they were able to make the Eels pay.
On the back of a massive bust from Hudson Young, Josh Papalii crashed over untouched after some crafty work from Josh Hodgson from dummy half.
After a huge set after points and almost a 40/20 from Jack Wighton, the Green Machine were able to build some pressure in opposition territory.
A chance went begging after Wighton attempted to throw a cut-out ball to Nick Cotric, but Cotric was unable to handle the ball.
Canberra hit the lead after a lovely final tackle play down the left edge which Cotric put in a beautiful kick for Wighton who found an unmarked Elliot Whitehead.
An altercation between Matterson and Corey Horsburgh lead to a Raiders penalty, which subsequently led to an emotional Horsburgh leaving the field.
The raid down the left edge continued and it almost led to another Raiders try but Eels fullback Clint Gutherson was able to knockdown the final pass.
Parramatta finished the first half with a penalty goal after a high tackle from Hodgson, the Raiders went into sheds with a 12-8 lead after an enthralling half of football.
Parramatta began the second half without their star pivot Mitchell Moses, after he succumbed to a suspected lower leg injury, he was replaced by Brad Takairangi.
The Raiders started off the second half on fire after forcing an error from Junior Paulo, and they almost capitalised, but the final pass from Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was ruled forward.
After a physical first 12 minutes to the second stanza, the Eels hit the lead after utility Ray Stone scored adjacent to the posts.
The Eels were gifted field position after a Jarrod Croker was ruled to have played at the ball after having the ball kicked at his back.
Parramatta extended their lead to more than a converted try with less than 20 minutes remaining as Michael Jennings crossed from close range.
The Eels seemingly put the game beyond doubt after Sivo scored in the corner on the back of a backline play.
The Raiders gave themselves a red-hot chance with five minutes remaining after a George Williams kick found a flying Nicoll-Klokstad, who got his side back within a converted try.
Canberra hit back immediately after a beautiful run from Whitehead found Nicoll-Klokstad for his second try in consecutive minutes.
Croker converted the try to level the scores with less than two minutes remaining which sent to game into golden point.
Both sides exchanged unsuccessful field goal attempts in the first half of golden point, as the game headed towards the final five minutes.
Parramatta took their chance as a Gutherson field goal in the second half of golden point won his side the game.
