Plenty of heat in the Canberra cold as Raiders go five straight

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Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels

The Canberra Raiders have notched up an unlikely fifth straight victory with a 26-18 victory over the Parramatta Eels at GIO Stadium in front of 17,414 home fans.

It might have been a cold night in the nation's capital but the action was anything but with both sides fired up with big hits and even some push and shove that went further than legal.
The opening points for both sides came via the boots of Jarrod Croker and Clint Gutherson respectively with Canberra adding a penalty goal in the 7th minute and the Eels replying in the 15th minute.

Things got unsettled around the 25 minute mark when Ryan Matterson and Corey Horsburgh came together and saw the Raiders enforce sin binned by referee Grant Atkins for throwing a punch.

It took right until the end of the ten-minute period for the Eels to take advantage of the extra man and it came off a kick from Ryan Matterson that ricocheted off the upright and sat in the in-goal for J'maine Hopgood to get there first and ground the ball.

The home side then levelled scores just shy of the half-time mark when the Raiders kept the ball alive and spread the ball wide for Albert Hopoate to use his strength to get over in the corner. 

It took plenty of time for the Raiders to get points in the first half but it didn't take long in the second half as Hudson Young chased through a kick from dummy half from Josh Starling to score with ease. If the first try of the half was easy, then second one was just as easy if not easier when Sebastian Kris went straight through almost no defence chasing through a last tackle grubber from Jamal Fogarty to score uncontested.

Things were looking to head one-way but for the Eels a piece of luck and brilliance from Will Pensini set up an attacking raid for Parramatta as they went down the other end and a couple of plays later Bailey Simonsson got on the board.

A penalty goal to Jarrod Croker with fifteen minutes to go pushed the gap to 10 points and it made a difference when the Eels closed the gap to four points when Maika Sivo used his strength to fight his way over the try line.

The Eels were creating enough opportunities but ill-discipline hurt them as errors and penalties continued to cost them field position. A piece of Jordan Rapana magic to fly over the top of Maika Sivo and tap the ball back for Matt Timoko to score sealed the victory for the Raiders.

Next weekend, the Raiders are again at home on Sunday afternoon with a clash against the Sea Eagles whilst the Eels will need to find something even with the return of Mitch Moses as they have a Friday night clash with the Rabbitohs.