Reynolds Kicks Cowboys to loss
5 hours ago | Andrew Ferguson
The Melbourne Storm have ended the Canberra Raiders unbeaten run with a rousing 30-10 victory at Olympic Park this evening.
Canberra were the first to score but from then on it was all one-way traffic with the Raiders very disappointing in attack and committing far too many unforced errors to even be a hope of winning the match.
Full credit to Melbourne who played the game very hard and were by far the dominant side in both attack and defence. Matt Orford led his side around the park beautifully. Robbie Kearns and Peter Robinson also played leading roles in the Storm's victory while for Canberra there were no players who stood out with the whole side playing very ordinary.
Canberra were their own worst enemy with far too much dropped ball and when you give away possession that cheaply, any good side will make you pay and the Raiders certainly paid dearly.
Craig Bellamy would be delighted with his sides performance as they look to next week's match against the Brisbane Broncos at ANZ Stadium.
Canberra must regroup and prepare for a tough encounter against the in-form Penrith Panthers. Matt Elliott has a lot of work to do to get his side back in a winning frame of mind after such a letdown.
Leagueunlimited players of the match:
3 - M Orford (Storm) 2 - R Kearns (Storm) 1 - D Kidwell (Storm)
Scorers: STORM 30 Tries: Robinson, Geyer, Reynoldson, Bell Goals: Orford 7/7 RAIDERS 10 Tries: Monaghan, Croker Goals: Schifcofske 1/2
By the clock:
8th min: TRY - Raiders. Joel Monaghan, inhis first game back from injury scores a great try and brushes aside Billy Slater. Conversion successful. Raiders 6-0.
16 th min: PENALTY GOAL - Storm. Mat Orford gets the Storm on the board. Raiders 6-2.
22nd min: TRY - Storm. Peter Robinson scores off a line ball pass to move the Storm into the lead. Conversion successful. Storm 8-6.
28th min: PENALTY GOAL - Storm. Shayne Hayne is caning the Raiders in the penalty count. It's all one way traffic at the moment. Storm 10-6.
32nd min: TRY - Storm. Matt Geyer scores off a brilliant short pass from Mat Orford. Conversion successful. Storm 16-6.
40th min: TRY - Raiders. Croker scores in the corner on the stroke of halftime to break the Raiders all time tryscoring record of Brett Mullins 105 tries. Croker has 106. Conversion unsuccessful. Storm 16-10.
HALF TIME: Amazingly, Canberra only find themselves behind by six points after finding a caning from Shayne Hayne. The penalty count reads 7-1 in the Storms favour.
63rd min: TRY - Storm. Kirk Reynoldson seals the Storms victory with a good try out wide. Canberra have been woeful in attack tonight with some terrible options and porr ball security. Conversion successful. Storm 22-10.
68th min: PENALTY GOAL - Storm. Melbourne move out to a 14 point lead which is pretty much unbeatable but Canberra at the moment aren't even in the contest. Storm 24-10.
79th min: TRY - Storm. Steven Bell scores out wide to cap a marvellous performance by the Storm who totally outplayed a very disappointing Raiders side this evening. Conversion successful. Storm 30-10.
FULL TIME: Well done to the Melbourne Storm who have dished out a 30-10 hiding to thepreviouslunbeaten Raiders and stamped themselves as a team to be taken seriously in 2003.