Raiders score 18 in seven minutes to sink Eels

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Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels

The Raiders have torn the Eels apart with a seven-minute surge in the second half today at GIO Stadium, ultimately downing the visitors 40-16 in front of more than 20,000 fans.

Canberra got off to a red hot start against Parramatta, leading 12-0 after 7 minutes, but the Eels clawed their way back into the match, leading at halftime. The Dogs regained the lead after an hours play, before putting the Eels away with a flurry of points in the final 7 minutes.

The Raiders got off to a red hot start when a perfectly executed short side play on the left was capped off when Sebastian Kris, with a defender on top of him, batted a pass along to Jed Stuart who scored a good try. Jamal Fogarty converted from the sideline.

The Eels restart then went too deep. The Raiders got a penalty on halfway and went straight back on the attack. At the end of the set, Fogarty held up a nice ball for Zac Hosking, close to the line, and the back rower scored. Fogarty converted.

The Eels knuckled down and forced their way back into the game. In the 13th minute a lovely grubber by Dean Hawkins into the Raiders in-goal was pounced on by Charlie Guymer. Zac Lomax converted.

With ten minutes left in the half, the Eels reduced the margin further when they shifted right to Guymer who hit Isaiah Iongi with a lovely short ball. The fullback produced a perfect catch and pass to put Lomax in for a try in the corner. Lomax failed to convert from the sideline.

With a minute left in the half the Eels crossed again when Joash Papali'i chipped to the Raiders left corner. Josh Addo-Carr and Xavier Savage fall over each other in pusuit of the ball. Sean  Russell cleaned up to score. Lomax's sideline conversion goes through off the upright and at the break, Eels had come from 12-0 down to lead 16-12.

13 minutes after play resumed, Raiders shifted left to Kris, who executed a lovely draw and pass to send Stuart in untouched for his second try. Fogarty failed to convert.

8 minutes later the Raiders regained the lead when Ethan Strange held up a crash ball for Simi Sasagi who barged over to score. Fogarty converted.

The Raiders received a penalty in the 68th minute and decided to take a shot at penalty goal to give themselves an 8 point lead, however Fogarty failed to land the kick. From the ensuing set, Kaeo Weekes grubbered into the Eels in-goal for  Savage, who dived to force the rolling ball, but landed awkwardly and his face hit the ground hard. He failed to score the try and had to come off for an HIA.

After back-to-back set restarts, the Raiders extended their lead when Corey Horsburgh took a crash ball into the Eels line, then popped a flick pass away to Owen Pattie who barged over to score. Fogarty converted.

Two minutes later and the Raiders nearly scored again when Matthew Timoko looked to score after a great run by Weekes, however as he was putting the ball down for the try, Josh Addo-Carr's tackle knocked the ball loose.

It was only 2 minutes later that the Raiders extended their lead further when Pattie made a break from dummy half and scooted through the tired middle defence, racing 30 metres to score under the posts. Fogarty converted.

Just before fulltime, Stuart made a break down the sideline, grubbed back in-field and Strange regathered to score. Fogarty converted and the Raiders raced away to a 40-16 victory.