It was billed as Jamal Fogarty versus his old team but it was his replacement - Ethan Sanders - who had the last laugh as the Canberra Raiders clinched a 29-28 victory over the Manly Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park.
Nailing the decisive point in the 82nd minute of golden point, Sanders stood tall in just his fifth appearance in first grade to extend the Raiders opening round record under Ricky Stuart to nine wins over the past 13 seasons, to the delight of a hearty band of visiting supporters among the 17,532 fans in attendance.
The Raiders appeared to have the result in hand after leading 28-14 with less than ten minutes remaining, however a late comeback from the home side pushed the match into golden point for the second time during the opening round of the season.
In a dominant opening which saw the home side hold possession uninterrupted for the first 11 minutes, captain Tom Trbojevic (3rd minute) used the wet conditions to slide over for first points before Fogarty added a penalty goal for an 8-0 lead.
The Sea Eagles continued to dominate their ill-disciplined opponents and kept the scoreboard ticking through Haumole Olakau'atu (17th minute), who marked his first game back from injury with a four-pointer.
Having been starved of possession over the opening quarter, the Raiders made the most of limited opportunities when Noah Martin (20th minute) slammed the ball down and was given the green light by the bunker.
While both sides came close to scoring during the remainder of the half, the wet conditions proved a factor as the Sea Eagles headed to the sheds up 14-6.
Returning from the halftime break with renewed vigour and intensity, the Raiders struck twice in as many minutes with Martin (46th minute) charging into space for his second and Xavier Savage (49th minute) finishing off a right-side shift to establish an 18-14 lead.
Continuing the one-way flow of points with Savage (53rd minute) exposing the Sea Eagles' retreating defence for his second, the Raiders' winger appeared to have a hat-trick only for the bunker to deem he grounded the ball on the sideline.
A classy show-and-go from Sanders (67th minute) looked to secure the result for the visitors, however the Sea Eagles conjured a comeback with two quick tries to Tolu Koula (73rd minute) and a length-of-the-field effort finished off by Fogarty (76th minute) to reduce the margin to two points.
Fogarty was wide of the mark with a two-point field goal as the fulltime siren sounded only for the referee to rule the Raiders defence offside, allowing the halfback to level the game at 28-all with a penalty goal from in front.
The Raiders needed just one set with the ball to ice the game in golden point with Sanders slotting the decisive score from 35 metres out.
Next week, the Sea Eagles will remain at home for a Sunday afternoon clash with the Knights, while the Raiders will face the Warriors on Friday night across the Tasman.