The St George-Illawarra Dragons claimed a 14-10 win over the Canberra Raiders at WIN Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Two tries to Dragons winger Tony Pellow helped the Dragons claim the victory in windy conditions in Wollongong.
With the Raiders running into the wind in the first half, the Dragons opened the scoring with a try in the right corner courtesy of Sam McCann.
Raiders winger Manase Kaho, who returned to side for the first time since round 11, levelled the score for the Raiders with a try out wide. The young winger took advantage after Caleb Aekins and Adam Cook combined on the left edge.
The Raiders and Dragons continued to trade blows but both sides were unable to add points to the scoreboard. Ryan James went closest to scoring but the Raiders prop – in his return from suspension - was unable to ground the ball as he crossed over the tryline.
The second half started with the game in the balance at 4-4 but the Dragons were the first to score when winger Tony Pellow intercepted a Brad Schneider pass and ran 80 meters to score.
After threatening the line earlier in the match, Ryan James barged over the try line to level the scores once again.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes, the Dragons looked likely to scores as Treigh Stewart made a break down the western touchline but desperate defence from Kaho saw Stewart drop the ball while trying to make a quick play the ball.
In his return from bicep injury, Harley Smith-Shields made a break and put in a grubber for himself but was narrowly beaten to the ball in the in-goal.
Tony Pellow scored his second try of the afternoon to put the Dragons back in front with five minutes to go.
