Round 23
Canberra Raiders 26 d. New Zealand Warriors 24

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Raiders come from behind to defeat Warriors
Sat August 18, 2007
Source: www.raiders.com.au

Two late tries have seen the CFMEU Canberra Raiders escape with a thrilling 26-24 victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Canberra Stadium tonight.

Trailing 24-14 in the second half, the Raiders hung in the match with some gutsy goal line defence before seizing their opportunities against the tiring Warriors pack in the final 10 minutes of play. Todd Carney sliced through the Warriors defence to score in the 70th minute, before Scott Logan completed the comeback by crashing over next to the posts with less than 3 minutes on the clock.

In an enthralling first 40 minutes of play, the Raiders were matching the Warriors big men up front, while rookie winger Brett Kelly took advantage of some nice backline play by scoring a sensational hat-trick of tries. Kelly had earlier fumbled the ball in his own in-goal to concede a try to the Warriors, but bounced back in emphatic fashion to keep the Raiders right in the contest. Two missed conversions from out wide by Todd Carney was the only difference between the sides at halftime, with the score at 18-14 to the Warriors.

Warriors hooker Nathen Fien scored an opportunistic try for his side 15 minutes into the second half after diving on a loose ball in the Raiders in-goal, but the Raiders hung on grimly over the following 10 minutes to not fall further behind on the scorboard, before sending the home fans into raptures with their late comeback.

The win keeps the Raiders' finals hopes mathematically alive, with the side still needing to win their final two matches against the Broncos (away) and Sharks (home), while depending on other results to also go their way.

In tonight's earlier match, the Raiders thumped the Auckland Lions 36-10 in Premier League, with Michael Dobson taking out the man of the match honours.

NRL TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP ROUND 23:
Raiders 28 (Brett Kelly 3, Todd Carney, Scott Logan tries; Todd Carney 3 goals) d. Warriors 24

Referee: Jarred Maxwell

NSWRL PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND 23:
Raiders 36 (Marshall Chalk 2, Bronx Goodwin, Ryan Barton, Brenton Lawrence, Michael Dobson tries; Michael Dobson 6 goals) d. Lions 10

Report source: www.raiders.com.au

Have your say on the 2007 rleague.com Fan Survey by CLICKING HERE for more information.

Advanced Search