It was a tough afternoon for the Canberra Raiders at North Sydney Oval on Saturday, suffering defeats in both the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg competitions.
NSW Cup
The Canberra Raiders could unfortunately not hold off a fast-finishing North Sydney Bears side, suffering a 28-20 defeat in the NSW Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Despite the result the match got off to the perfect start for the Raiders, with Jarrod Croker scoring off the back of a Bears error. The skipper could not convert his own effort, leaving the Raiders with a 4-0 lead in just the fourth minute.
After errors from both sides it was Tom Carr who was able to tie it up for the Bears, with Adam Keighran slotting his conversion attempt to give the home side a 6-4 lead in the 22nd minute.
It didn’t take them long to further extend it, with Renouf Atoni crossing over for a try and Keighran kicking the conversion again to give the Bears a 12-4 lead in the 29th minute.
Just one minute later Carr broke the line to score his second of the match, extending the home team’s lead to 12.
Trey Mooney was able to get one back for the Raiders, with the second rower scoring in the 36th minute. Croker was able to complete his first conversion attempt of the match, leaving the Green Machine down by six at half-time.
Hudson Young got Canberra off to the perfect start in the second half, crossing over in the 49th minute to help draw the scores level.
Michael Asomua gave the Raiders their deserved lead back, scoring in the 60th minute, with Croker unfortunately not converting to leave Canberra up 20-16.
The Raiders could however not quite hold on, with a double to Jacob Preston in the 67th and 78th minute securing a 28-20 win for the home side.
Canberra will now turn their attention to the Penrith Panthers, who they face at BlueBet Stadium next Sunday at 1:50pm.
Jersey Flegg
The Canberra Raiders Jersey Flegg side had a disappointing Saturday afternoon, falling 40-10 against the Roosters at North Sydney Oval.
The home side got off to the perfect start, scoring four unanswered tries to give the Roosters a 24-0 lead in the 15th minute.
Despite the slow start the Raiders did fight back, with Caleb Tohi scoring the team’s first try in the 18th minute before Mitchell Spencer added the extra two points.
Only five minutes later Josh Smith got the team’s second, breaking the line to bring the score back to 24-10 in the 24th minute.
Unfortunately the Raiders could not hold on until half-time, with Phoenix Steinwede scoring for the Roosters in the 29th minute to give the home side a 28-10 lead heading into the break.
Just six minutes into the second half the Roosters scored again, and with a successful conversion the score hit 34-10.
Despite holding out the home team for most of the remaining 30 minutes, the Roosters did score one last try, taking the final score to 40-10.
The Raiders will be looking to turn their form around when they come up against Penrith on Sunday afternoon at BlueBet Stadium.
