Raiders scrape home against Warriors

The Canberra Raiders have managed to scrape home against the New Zealand Warriors 23-16.

In front of a relative modest 11,499 fans, the Canberra Raiders almost blew a 16-0 lead at half time, narrowly avoiding being chased down in the second half.

The late minute inclusion of Drury Low proved to be a good one for the Canberra Raiders, with the winger crossing in the 11th minute, and then again in the 20th minute to help the Raiders get a formidable lead in the first half.

As the Warriors looked like they may chase the lead down, a brillaint offload from Bronson Harrison put Joel Thompson over the line in the 62nd minute, followed by a Marc Herbert field goal, preventing a repeat of their second half blunders this year.

The Warriors, although looking good at times, were too inconsistent and simply weren't there in the first half. Their late surge in the second half showed what type of team they can be, but its not good enough to play just 40 minutes of football.

As for the Raiders, fans will be hoping this match shows they have put their second half jitters behind them, but it is quite evident that they are still not the most confident team in the second half and need to work on putting sides away to prevent any further embarrassments like ones they've experienced this year.

Match Details
New Zealand Warriors 16 were defeated by Canberra Raiders 23
National Rugby League - NRL - Round 8 - Saturday May 1, 2010 5:00pm
Venue: Mt Smart Stadium
Referee: Ben Cummins and Adam Devcich
Video Referee: Sean Hampstead
Touch Judges: Rick MacFarlane and Gavin Reynolds
Crowd: 11,499
Halftime: New Zealand Warriors 0 Canberra Raiders 16

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS (16)
Tries: Brent Tate, Patrick Ah Van, Ukuma Ta'ai
Conversions: James Maloney (2/3)

CANBERRA RAIDERS (23)
Tries: Joel Thompson, David Shillington, Drury Low (2)
Field Goals: Marc Herbert (1/1)
Conversions: Terry Campese (3/4)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary 12 min: TRY
TRY Canberra Raiders
Scored by Drury Low. Conversion attempt by Terry Campese successful.
Canberra Raiders 6-0
18 min: TRY
Scored by Shillington. Canberra Raiders 12-0 20 min: TRY
TRY Canberra Raiders
Scored by Drury Low. Conversion attempt by Terry Campese unsuccessful.
Canberra Raiders 16-0
43 min: TRY
TRY New Zealand Warriors
Scored by Ukuma Ta'ai. Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
Canberra Raiders 16-6
58 min: TRY
TRY New Zealand Warriors
Scored by Patrick Ah Van. Conversion attempt by James Maloney unsuccessful.
Canberra Raiders 16-10
63 min: TRY
TRY Canberra Raiders
Scored by Joel Thompson. Conversion attempt by Terry Campese successful.
Canberra Raiders 22-10
73 min: FIELD GOAL
FIELD GOAL Canberra Raiders
Field goal attempt by Marc Herbert successful.
Canberra Raiders 23-10
76 min: TRY
TRY New Zealand Warriors
Scored by Brent Tate. Conversion attempt by James Maloney successful.
Canberra Raiders 23-16
80 min: FULL TIME - Raiders running out winners 23-16 in a good, physical encounter.