Captain Crichton stands tall as Bulldogs down Raiders

An inspirational captain's knock from Stephen Crichton steered the Bulldogs to a 22-18 win over the Raiders in a thrilling contest at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.

In front of a boisterous home crowd, Crichton continued his stunning 2024 season to lead his men to fifth on the ladder ahead of a blockbuster showdown with the Dragons next week.

After a tight start to the contest it was Crichton celebrating his return from a neck injury with a powerhouse run from 15 metres out, leaving Seb Kris and Jordan Rapana in his wake to post the opening try.

Five minutes later the Raiders hit back when a Joe Tapine charge got them in position for Trey Mooney to crash over for just the second try of his career. Jamal Fogarty's conversion made it 6-4 to Canberra.

An offside penalty against Raiders back-rower Morgan Smithies in the 26th minute gave Matt Burton a shot from right in front and the scores were locked up at 6-6.

On the stroke of half-time the Bulldogs had a shot at points when Crichton kicked ahead for Jacob Kiraz to chase but the Raiders scrambled brilliantly to defuse the situation and send the teams to the sheds all square.

Six minutes into the second term the Bulldogs had the home crowd in raptures when Crichton chipped ahead and regathered inches inside the dead ball line to dot down for his eighth try of the season.

Ahead by four the Bulldogs made it 10 when Bronson Xerri created space for returning winger Josh Addo-Carr to streak away down the left touchline for his first try since Round 13.

Needing to hit back to stay in the contest the Raiders did just that through a Matt Timoko try off a perfectly weighted by Fogarty who converted to make it 16-12.

A rampaging Viliame Kikau then looked set to score another one for the Dogs but Kaeo Weekes put his body on the line and forced the ball loose with a strong tackle.

Another huge play from Crichton in the 69th minute helped open up a 10-point lead for the blue and whites, the skipper flying high to bring down a Burton bomb and sending the ball to Addo-Carr to complete his double.

A mistake by Connor Tracey opened the door for the Raiders and a quick shift to the left put Rapana over in the corner and Fogarty converted from the sideline to drag it back to 22-18.