Canberra withstand late Dragons surge... just!

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders

The Canberra Raiders have nearly blown a 30-10 lead conceding 3 tries in six minutes but steadied to defeat the Dragons by 36-26 at WIN Stadium. Both sides had a lot to play for in this one even though they were on opposite ends of the ladder.

After both sides played some enterprising football in the opening exchanges, it was the Raiders that collected the first points. Matt Timoko took advantage of a lot of early football and found open space before finding Jamal Fogarty before the half was taken metres from the line. On the ensuing play, Jordan Rapana crashed his way across the line as the Raiders took their spin on the controversial Ashes dismissal for Try July. Jarrod Croker converted from out wide for an early 6-0 lead.

The Dragons gritted and worked their way back into the game, however, their sloppy discipline cost them in the long run. A poor error coming out of yardage undid all their hard work and the Raiders capitalised. Joe Tapine received the ball and beat five of them on his way to the line, Croker converted to extend the margin out to two converted tries.

It was soon beginning to look embarrassing for the Red V. Matt Timoko looked promising all night and he finally got rewarded just shy of the half-hour mark. Some quick hands down the right saw Timoko break through and he had too much pace for Jayden Sullivan and Paul Turner to cross. Croker converted for an 18-0 lead.

Canberra thought they extended when Hudson Young crossed but the video referee spotted a knock-on. St George got in the game just before the break when Matt Feagai broke down the left sideline, a quick shift to the right saw Talatau Amone nearly get there. It took Mikaele Ravalawa to cross on the ensuing play to get the Dragons back into the contest. However, in the shadows of half-time, Canberra struck a critical blow. A clever kick from Fogarty hit the post before landing in the breadbasket of Matt Frawley and with Croker's conversion, the Raiders had a 24-6 lead.

St George had to be first to score to start the second half. It took a clever kick from Moses Mbye which turned Croker around. He spilt it in the impact from Ravalawa and Zac Lomax crossed in the aftermath of their first set of six. Lomax was unlucky to miss his conversion and the margin was immediately reduced to just 14 points. Canberra was fortunate to not be leading by less after the Dragons dominated possession in the opening exchanges of the second half.

However, the Raiders showed their class with their star power. A bomb from Fogarty was spilt by Amone which got to Frawley who kicked it on the zero tackle to Timoko who strolled over the line. The video ref took his time in confirming the try, but eventually, it was given to the NZ World Cup train-on squad member.

Canberra wasn't fully icing the game and again allowed the Dragons back into the game. Jack De Belin linked up with Blake Lawrie who got a miraculous offload to Amone who shifted it to the left to Lomax who found Ravalawa to cross in the corner for his second of the night. Lomax converted to reduce the gap back to 14 points.

They soon grabbed a second to set up a testy final 20. A clever kick from Amone aimed for a purpose and it was Lomax who flew above the rest to come down with it to score for the Red V. If that wasn't exciting enough, another right-side raid saw the gap reduce to four. The movement saw Amone, Lomax and Ravalawa combining sending the Fijian down the wing. He got it inside to Billy Burns who found Ravalawa for a hattrick, Lomax couldn't get the conversion and the gap was 4.

However, the Dragons were unable to ice the situation. Hudson Young delivered a crunching tackle to spill the ball from Jacob Liddle who was away in the Raiders attacking zone. Unfortunately for the Red V, off the ensuing set, Seb Kris splits them up the middle to cross. Croker converted for a 10-point lead. Despite some final challenges, the Dragons couldn't do enough to escape with victory.