Temara seals Raiders golden point victory in milestone match

Raiders’ fullback Elise Simpson tore open the scoreboard just two minutes after kick-off, after a dummy from halfback and skipper Zahara Temara tore open a hole in the Wests’ defensive line. Simpson took the space at high-speed, palming off Tigers’ fullback Caitlin Turnbull and crashed down under the posts. Temara had no issues with the conversion to put the Raiders up 6-0.

Temara struck again in the 13th minute, after a lethal short ball to Raiders’ second-rower Jordyn Preston caught the Tigers flatfooted on their line. Preston found the line, leaving the Tigers’ defence scattered in her wake and Temara nailed the kick – putting the Raiders 12 points up.

It took the Tigers 25 minutes to claw their way onto the scoreboard, through Caitlin Turnbull who worked her way to the line to score. The conversion was unsuccessful and the scoreline read 12-4 heading into halftime.

The Tigers opened the scoring for the second half with a nifty offload from Tara Reinke off the bench found Salma Nour three minutes into the half. Emily Bass converted for the Tigers to thin the scoreline to 12-10.

Striking again, the Tigers took the lead as Turnbull crossed over for her second try as the visitors capitalised on their momentum. Bass converted again to give the Tigers a 16-12 lead.

After 22 hard-fought minutes, the Raiders wrestled the scores level after quick service from the milestone player Temara found Simpson again who crossed over for a double. Temara’s kick was just wide, and the Raiders were staring down the barrel of a golden point shoot-out.

Despite some fierce attacking efforts in the dying stages of regular time, the score remained level and the girls headed into overtime.

Golden point saw three minutes of set-for-set brutality with neither side giving an inch.

But two minutes on the clock – Zahara Temara iced out the game with a calm and collected field goal from twenty metres out in an incredible finish to the captain’s 50th game in the NRL.

Picking up steam, this marks the Raiders’ third win in a row. They’ll look to carry this momentum forward into next week’s clash against the ladder-leading Roosters in Sydney next weekend.