Raiders score huge win over Broncos in first home game of the season

The Raiders had a standout performance across the park, including a special  match from debutant Matty Nicholson who was outstanding bagging two tries in his long-awaited debut.

The Raiders were under the pump for the first six minutes of the match but held their defence together firmly which led to the first Broncos’ error of the game.

After some terrific tryline defence from the Raiders, they stormed down the field with an extra set. A short ball from Jamal Fogarty set the debutant Matty Nicholson through a gaping hole to give the Raiders their first four pointer of the match. Fogarty drilled the goal from in front to put the Raiders 6-0 ahead.

A brick wall is all the Broncos can see as they conceded a seven-tackle set which saw the Raiders capitalise.

Fogarty placed a pinpoint kick across the field to Sebastian Kris who knocked it back to a steaming Josh Papalii who crossed for the Raiders second try. Fogarty puts the Raiders 12-nil up.

The Broncos cashed in on their first ty after repeated penalties gifted them an attacking chance. Jesse Arthars finished a try in the corner to cut the deficit to 12-6.

Another penalty given to the Broncos saw them get close to the Raiders line again, a beautiful cut-out ball from Ben Hunt saw Jesse Arthars score his second of the night. A missed conversion from Adam Reynolds sees the Raiders ahead 12-10 with 13 minutes till halftime.

A terrific kick from Fogarty on the last gave the Raiders another crack at the Broncos defence. The Kid from Halifax, Matty Nicholson goes over for his second try after a terrific short ball from Starling. Jamal Fogarty misses the kick but the Raiders head to the sheds with a 16-10 lead.

Coming out after half time, the Broncos were under fire early after another mistake saw the Raiders get an early sniff. On the last tackle, Tom Starling dummied one way and went the other and put a cheeky grubber in which he regathered and scored, extending the Raiders lead to 20-10.

Some fantastic defence from the Raiders saw another unforced error from the Broncos. The Raiders took the advantage with firm hands which saw a cheeky offload from Corey Horsburgh to Matt Timoko who charged over the line to give them their fifth try of the game. A successful kick from Fogarty gave the Raiders a handy 26-10 lead.

The Raiders attacked the short side and quick hands from Starling and Kris saw young gun Savelio Tamale dive over the line to get his first try of the season. Fogarty nailed the kick from the sideline gave the Raiders a healthy 32-10 lead.

A Fantastic 40/20 from Adam Reynolds gave the Broncos an attacking chance.  Reynolds found a flying Selwyn Cobbo with a cross-field kick, who puts it down in the corner to score. The kick was successful from Reynolds taking the deficit to 32-16.

The Broncos with another set on the Raiders line spread it out left which winger Jesse Arthars put it down in the corner to grab his hat trick. Adam Reynolds converted to make it 32-22.

The Raiders held on in the final stages to score a huge 32-22 victory to start the season two from two.

The 18,884 members of the GIO Stadium crowd were buzzing which will give plenty of momentum for the Raiders' round three clash against the Manly Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park.