The Raiders have ground out a hard-fought 26-18 win over the Eels on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to five in a row.
In cold and challenging conditions at GIO Stadium, Ricky Stuart's side were made to work for it against a Parramatta side missing star halfback Mitchell Moses, but executed their opportunities to perfection to run out eight-point winners in the end.
The result is Canberra's fifth win in a row since suffering a heavy defeat to Penrith in Round 5 and moves them into fifth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder, while the Eels remain in the competition's bottom four with four wins in 11 weeks.
There was little between the two sides throughout the first half with penalty goals traded early on. Jakob Arthur, playing his first NRL game since last year's Grand Final defeat to Penrith, was lively and threatened the line on a number of occasions but was stopped just short of scoring the first points.
Hopgood gets the first try
With Corey Horsburgh sent to the sin bin for a melee with Ryan Matterson in the 22nd minute, the Raiders did their best to hold out the Eels with a man advantage, but eventually cracked under pressure – Matterson turning provider with his kick hitting the uprights to allow J'maine Hopgood to cross for his maiden NRL try.
Canberra levelled the match just before the break with Jack Wighton registering his fifth try assist of the season as he put Albert Hopoate over in the corner.
Zac Woolford's failed head injury assessment opened the door for Tom Starling to take on a bigger role for the Green Machine and the wiry rake did just that to start the second half – kicking deftly between defenders on last tackle before Hudson Young strolled through to collect his fifth try of the year.
Kris straight through
The home side would extend their lead further in just moments later, this time Jamal Fogarty turning provider and Sebastian Kris the finisher on a last tackle option.
Former Raider Bailey Simonsson would keep the Eels in the contest when he steamed on to a short ball from Bryce Cartwright to cut the score to 20-12, before Maika Sivo set the match up for a grandstand finish with his 14th try of the year.
Jack Wighton produced a try-saving tackle on Haze Dunster six minutes from time to kill off the Eels' hopes at a comeback as Matt Timoko sealed the two points for Canberra with a try in the final stages.
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Match Snapshot
- Canberra's win ended a recent run of struggles against the Eels, having gone into the contest with just one win from their previous six encounters.
- Matterson celebrated his 150th NRL game and was involved in an early melee with Horsburgh which saw the Raiders prop sent to the sin bin.
- Shaun Lane went off in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not return.
- J'maine Hopgood scored the first try of his career.
- Junior Paulo was placed on report for a cannonball tackle on Joseph Tapine that saw the Raiders forward taken from the field with a hyperextended knee. Tapine finished the game with more than 170 metres, despite coming off.
- Zac Woolford was taken off for a head injury assessment and did not return.
- Bailey Simonsson was placed on report for a hip drop tackle on Jordan Rapana but was not sin binned for the incident.
- Maika Sivo recorded his 14th try of the season, the most in the competition.
Play of the Game
Young grabs the lead
With Zac Woolford (head knock) off the field, Tom Starling took matters into his own hands with a beautiful kick on last tackle to give Hudson Young the simplest of tries. The Raiders hooker kicked off the outside of his boot whilst falling away from the line, threading the needle perfectly through the Eels defence for Young to stroll through and collect his fifth try of the year.
What They Said
"I wouldn't say that [we're one of the form teams]. We've got a lot of hard work in front of us. I think a good sign for us is that we're scrapping. We're a fighting team at the moment and we'll do anything to keep that rolling. Hard work goes a long way. That's the Raiders way, it's in the jersey and that's one thing that Ricky Stuart put into us tonight for Old Boys night." – Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty
Raiders: Round 11
"I was very proud of our team, they tried their backsides off. We were physical, we were tough, nothing went our way. It's very hard to come down to here to Canberra when you get a 10-3 penalty count against you... I don't know what more I can say to the boys as I thought we were stiff. I never say anything about the refereeing, but I think tonight we were hard done by. " – Eels coach Brad Arthur
Eels: Round 11
What's Next
Parramatta are back in action next Friday night as they take on the competition leaders South Sydney, who enter the game off the back of a six-game winning run. Canberra will face the Sea Eagles at home on Sunday afternoon in the final hit out for both teams before losing players to Origin commitments.