In a back-and-forth effort, the Canberra Raiders suffered a narrow 26-20 loss to the Newcastle Knights on Saturday morning at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
The Raiders came onto the field determined to impress fans at home, snagging early points thanks to centre Mackenzie Wiki who planted the ball in the left edge.
The Green Machine built off of this momentum as halfback Ashleigh Quinlan gained valuable metres, offloading to Zahara Temara who scored under the posts. Temara added the extras, giving the Raiders an early ten-nil lead.
The Knights attempted to come back through Abigail Roache who chased and tried to plant the ball in the left corner, but this was ruled no try due to an unforced error.
15 minutes into play, the Knights made amends as skipper Hannah Southwell fought to score. Halfback Jesse Southwell added the extras, tightening the margin to 10-6.
Both teams continued to play set for set, until Newcastle made a quick shift to the left and scored off the back of winger Lilly-Ann White. Unable to add the extras, the score was evened out to 10-all with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
A dangerous tackle from the Knights gifted a penalty kick to the Raiders, which Temara successfully executed, giving the Raiders the two-point edge as they went into the sheds.
The Raiders came into the second half determined, capitalising on a Knights penalty through a successful penalty kick by Temara, extending the Raiders lead to 14-10.
Newcastle bounced back when prop Caitlan Johnston-Green found a gap and planted the ball under the goal posts.
Knights Halfback Southwell added the extras, giving the Knights a two-point advantage with 15 minutes to go.
The match remained back-and-forth as both teams struggled to get past each other’s defensive lines, until Canberra’s winger Shakiah Tungai crossed to score.
Zahara’s kicking game was on fire as she added the extras, putting the Raiders back in front with a score of 20-16.
The Knights answered with a full field try as Sheridan Gallagher made the break and scored. An unsuccessful conversion balanced the score to 20-all with three minutes remaining.
In the final minute of play, a penalty try was awarded to Knights fullback Tamika Upton. Southwell followed up with a conversion, bringing the final score of the day to 26-20 to the Knights.
The Raiders will look to bounce back at home next Saturday afternoon as they face the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at GIO Stadium, Canberra.
