Resilient Raiders hold on for gutsy road win against Warriors

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Warriors v Canberra Raiders

The Canberra Raiders have made it back to back wins to sit in outright second on the competition table at the end of round 12, outlasting a gallant Warriors outfit 16-10 on Sunday afternoon.

It had all the makings of an arm wrestle early and that's exactly the way the match would pan out, the Warriors making the Raiders pay for not taking an early gift two points via a penalty goal by forcing a mistake two tackles into a Canberra attacking set.

The home side would use that momentum to march up the field and not make the same mistake as their opponents when given a penalty of their own, Luke Metcalf making no mistake with the penalty goal to give his side a 2-0 lead 15 minutes into the match.

The arm wrestle continued in the ensuing sets until Roger Tuivasa-Sheck gave his team the upper-hand, getting a crafty pass to Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad to put his fullback away for a 60-metre gain. The veteran winger would finish what he started, barging over the top of Xavier Savage for the first try of the match a couple of minutes later. Metcalf continued his strong form with the boot t make it an 8-0 game after 25.

Things went from bad to worse for the Green machine, with Corey Horsburgh sent to the sin bin for his side's repeated infringements. The Warriors were unable to take advantage of the extra man though, making two costly errors at inopportune times.

That allowed the Raiders to get themselves back into the match, with some crafty ball playing putting Seb Kris through a hole to link up with Tom Starling in support, who scored next to the posts to cut the deficit to 8-6.

The Raiders had the better of the running for the rest of the first half but it looked like the Warriors were going to survive when Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad shepherded the ball dead with 45 seconds to play. Adam Pompey had other ideas though, stupidly standing offside on the dropout that allowed the Raiders to make it a tie game going into the sheds.

Canberra again had bountiful opportunities to start the second half but a couple of uncharacteristically poor last tackle options from Jamal Fogarty meant the Warriors would be the first on the scoreboard courtesy of a 7-tackle set. Jackson Ford was hit high and in wet and slippery conditions the Warriors made the wise decision to take the points on offer, going up 10-8 in the 50th minute.

It was a day to forget for Leka Halasima, the young back rower making the first of a series of handling errors in the Warriors set after points, which eventuated in Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad going to the bin for repeated infringements. The Raiders used their one-man advantage better than the Warriors did, levelling things up with a penalty goal initially before taking their first lead of the match a few minutes later. Joe Tapine threw a nice short pass to put Ata Mariota through a hole, before the bench forward got an outstanding offload away to Jamal Fogarty, who burned the replacement fullback Te Maire Martin on his way to the tryline. 

He converted, making the score 16-10 to the Green team with 15 minutes to play.

It was a chaotic final act to a game between two desperate sides.There were successful challenges and mistakes from restarts as well as 50/50 calls made on whether an advantage had been taken. The upshot was that the Warriors had plenty of possession and field position to send it to golden point, but time after time the Raiders turned up for each other.

The climax of the game was in the final three minutes, when Tom Starling was penalised for a late hit on Chanel Harris-Tavita. The Raiders opted for what could go down as the worst challenge in history, which saw the bunker not only uphold the penalty but send Tom Starling to the sin bin.

The Warriors came within an inch of scoring on the 12-man Raiders, with Marata Niukore held up over the line in the 78th minute. The game essentially ended when Leka Halasima dropped the ball again, sealing a good win for the Raiders that pushes them up above the Warriors to 2nd on the table.

Next week, the Warriors are on the road to play Souths, while the Raiders will face off against the Roosters in a 2019 Grand Final rematch.