The Raiders clinched a thrilling 28-20 victory over the Dragons in their opening game of the Auckland Nines.
In a see-sawing match up the Raiders prevailed in the final minutes with tries to Lachlan Croker and Luke Bateman.
The Dragons opened the scoring before Jordan Rapana showed great footwork to grab the Raiders first. Twice forcing the Dragons into line dropouts, the Raiders were unable to capitalise on their superior field position, coughing the ball back up to the Dragons on both occasions.
A late attacking flurry by the Dragons came to nothing as the Raiders heading into the half time break down 4-6.
It was the Raiders youth and new recruits who dominated the second half. Zac Santo was influential in setting up Kato Ottio for a try, while Brenko Lee intercepted former Raider Josh McCrone for a try.
The Dragons continued fighting and led the match 20-17 with two minutes remaining, before Sam Williams dashed up the middle to set up Lachlan Croker. It was superb performance by the Crokers with Jason Croker returning to the field late in the first half.
It was a great performance by the Raiders with a series of missed conversions the only lowlight. Next up for the Raiders is a match up against the Gold Coast Titans at 5.30pm.
Stay tuned to the Canberra Raiders Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for live updates, photos and videos from the tournament!
