Penrith punish rusty Roosters
8 hours ago | Aidan Edgecomb
Despite leading 22-4 with ten remaining, the Raiders have had to wait til Golden Point Extra Time to defeat the Warriors 26-22 at GIO Stadium in front of 9,000 fans.
Staring down the face of a dissapointing loss, the Warriors fought back late with a double to Thomas Leuluai and a last minute try in the corner to David Fusitua seting up a Golden Point thriller. A Jarrod Croker try in the corner would cap off a man of the match performance by the Canberra centre, headlined by a decisive hat-trick and break the Warriors hearts in the process.
With a top eight spot calling for the Warriors and the Raiders a shot of sneaking into the Top 4, the Saturday afternoon clash at Canberra seemed an intriguing one with so much to play for. The Warriors came out a very controlled side to open the clash, and it served them well for the majority of the first half.
Shannon Boyd went close for the home side in just the 2nd minute off the back of some ill-discipline from the Warriors, yet with some penalties of their own the Warriors displayed a refined version of their typically erratic attack. Similar to that of Penrith last night, the Warriors seemed rather settled and measured in attack, with Bunty Afoa ruled to have impeded Aidan Sezer in what would have been an otherwise sharp try in the 11th minute to David Fusitua. Some scrambling defence would save the Raiders a moment later, but they couldn't stop a charging Manu Vatuvei, who juggled a slick Fusitua pass only to regather and fly over in the corner in the 16th minute.
The Warriors continued to look dangerous and bombed what appeared a very likely try in 27th minute when Johnson looped a pass over to Vatuvei, with no Warriors player capitalising on a gaping hole in the Canberra defence. The Warriors would make an untimely error in the 34th minute with Leuluai fumbling a poor pass. Despite having made minimal errors in the 1st half, that one would prove costly with Jarrod Croker signalling and pouncing on a Sezer grubber. And if Canberra fans were happy to be up by two, they would be absolutely stoked to see Joseph Tapine finish off a long range effort in the 39th minute and put the home side ahead 12-4 at the break.
The Warriors of old, however, returned to run out in the 2nd half. Lolohea would get a start in the 50th minute for Blake Ayshford and make an immediate impact, forcing a scrum to the Warriors from ten out. Yet the story of the visitors in the second half was their errors, which halted any serious momentum from returning to the away side.
Between the 44th and 59th minute the Warriors made four errors and this would hinder any chance they had of getting back into what was such an important clash with a top eight spot on the line. The error by Isaac Luke in the 59th minute (off a poor offload it must be mentioned) would see the Raiders take advantage and Croker crossed in the corner for his second to give the home side a twelve point buffer. And in the 67th minute Joseph Leilua would apparently seal the vital victory with a Rapana offload giving the barnstorming centre space to use his sheer size to score under the posts.
Yet, when it looked like the Raiders had secured their top four spot, a knock on off the kick off would give the Warriors a chance. And Thomas Leuluai would use his electrifying speed to dart over in the 70th minute. You couldn't believe it, as the Warriors seemed to come to life and Leuluai would score again, this time dancing over from fifteen out and Luke would put the Warriors within six.
In a tense final five minutes, Issac Luke would have a kick from the sideline to send it to Golden Point again after Fusitua dived over in the corner. And he would just sneak it in and the Warriors would face the prospect of going down in Golden Point for the 3rd time in 4 weeks. The Warriors looked to have all the momentum going into Golden Point, but Jordan Rapana streaked through the Canberra defence and the Raiders would capitalise. With an overlap on the left side the Raiders would spread it on the last tackle and Jarrod Croker would snatch his 3rd of the day and seal the win for the Green Machine.
Unfortunately, in the end, key errors at key moments in the game cost the Warriors an important win. With the victory the Raiders move into 4th position and face the Rabbitohs next Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium as they attempt to consolidate that top four spot. Meanwhile, having lost 3 of their past 4 in Golden Point, the Warriors will look to overcome the heart break as they face the Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Mt Smart Stadium.
-
Venue:
Crowd:
Halftime Score: