The Raiders have made it five wins in a row after taking down the Parramatta Eels 26-18 in front of a packed house of over 17,400 at GIO Stadium Canberra.
In a game that went down to the wire, the Green Machine kept their composure outclassing a hapless Eels outfit.
The Raiders didn’t waste any time mounting the pressure on the Parramatta Eels, coming out firing in the opening five minutes.
Awarded a penalty in front of the posts, the Raiders opted to take the penalty conversion to lead 2-0.
The Green Machine threatened, spreading the ball to the edges and gaining field position over the Eels.
However, the Eels shortly locked the scores up at two points a-piece thanks to a penalty kick conversion from Clint Gutherson.
The Raiders exploited the Eels tired forwards around the ruck, with strong runs from Joseph Tapine and Zac Woolford thanks to key offloads.
A 40/20 from Jack Wighton put the Raiders back in command, but an intercept from the Eels stole the momentum away.
Quick play the balls from the Raiders enabled them to get on top of the Eels in the first half but lacked that finishing touch when within 20 meters of the try line.
A scuffle between Corey Horsburgh and Ryan Matterson led to Horsburgh being sent to the sin bin in the 23rd minute.
A rough tackle from Junior Paulo left Tapine worse for wear, exiting the field in exchange for Pasami Saulo.
Zac Woolford was sent off the field for a HIA with seven minutes left in the first half, replaced by Tom Starling at hooker.
With Horsburgh’s return imminent, the Eels played a neat grubber into the in-goal with J’maine Hopgood diving in it to open the tries for the match.
Gutherson converted the try taking the scores to 8-2 with 5 minutes remaining in the first half.
A hip drop on Jordan Rapana in their half allowed the Raiders to march forward toward the try line.
The Raiders were probing away before Jack Wighton floated a ball over the top to Albert Hopoate who used all his strength to score the Green Machine’s first try of the night.
A conversion from the sideline by Jarrod Croker tied the scores at 8-8 as half-time approached.
As the Raiders kicked off the second half, they were awarded an early penalty to put them on the front foot.
It didn’t take them long to come out firing with Hudson Young pouncing on a pin-point kick from Starling out of dummy half to take the lead once again.
That try takes Young’s tally to his fifth of the season.
With the ball going to ground early in the set, Matt Timoko worked his magic once again making a line break only to be brought down twenty metres out.
Putting pressure on the Eels try line once again, Jamal Fogarty sparked something out of nothing, slipping a grubber kick through for Sebastian Kris to score the Raiders third try of the match.
Another successful conversion from Croker extended their lead by 12 points, 20-8.
A line break from Will Penisini in their half helped give the Eels an opportunity to score.
With the Raiders outnumbered, a ball from Gutherson to Simonsson enabled the Eels to decrease the deficit to eight points.
An unsuccessful conversion from Gutherson after striking the post left the scores at 20-12.
Looking to regain a grasp on the game, a one-on-one strip from Hudson Young stopped the Eels in their tracks.
Croker slotted another penalty conversion, taking their lead to 10 points with 15 minutes remaining.
Fogarty once again displayed his composure kicking a 40/20, however eventually losing the ball over the try line in the following set.
The Eels kept their foot in the door with just over 10 minutes left after Maika Sivo found his way to the line in the corner.
Gutherson successfully converted the try reducing the score to just four points the difference.
With the game in the balance, a kick from Fogarty for a high-flying Rapana overcame Sivo, who tapped the ball back for Timoko to score in the corner and solidify the win.
