The Canberra Raiders have come up agonisingly short to competition heavy weights the Sydney Roosters, falling 22-18 at GIO Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Having survived an early attacking raid from the Raiders, the Roosters were able to convert with their first opportunity on the Raiders line, with Jayme Fressard crossing for the first try of the afternoon.
Unphased, Canberra immediately struck back through the likes of Bobbi Law carrying a number of defenders with her on the way to level scores at 4-4, just over 10 minutes into the contest.
With both outfits having settled back into a back-and-forth brand of footy, Canberra took an opportunity to go up 6-4 through the boot of Zahara Temara after receiving a penalty deep within the Roosters half.
Compiling possession and pressure on the Roosters line, Sheridan Gallagher caught defenders off guard after opting to run on the fifth tackle, crossing for her first try in lime green and the Raiders second of the match.
Trailing for the first time all season, Easts continued to put themselves under pressure with handling errors and a lack of discipline in defence gifting the Raiders with field position.
Unable to convert their late opportunity into points, Canberra made their way to the sheds with a 10-4 lead heading into the second half.
Returning from the break Jordyn Preston caught the Roosters defence on their heels, demonstrating her damaging running game to extend Canberra’s lead to 14-4
Despite handing over possession to Easts after the restart, the Raiders rallied in defence to force a knock-on from Isabelle Kelly over the line.
In the 40th minute cheers echoed across the stadium, as Raiders and NRLW debutant, Ellie Brander made her way onto the field.
Needing to be next on the scoreboard, Roosters lock Olivia Kernick produced a flick pass to find Sariah Paki for Easts second try of the contest, narrowing the gap to just four points.
Zahara Temara responded with a touch of class of her own, kicking a 40/30 to place the Raiders back on the attack shortly after.
The class of the Roosters attack was becoming apparent, as Tarryn Aiken sliced her way through the Raiders line, regaining a 16-14 lead following a Jocelyn Kelleher conversion.
Given a golden opportunity with just over ten minutes remaining, the Raiders rediscovered their confidence in attack, spreading the ball to the right edge before Mackenzie Wiki topped things off with an acrobatic effort in the corner.
Jayme Fressard ensured the Roosters weren’t behind for long, getting her hand to the ball just in the nick of time following a grubber into the in-goal on last tackle.
Kelleher continued her strong afternoon from the tee, converting to push the Roosters lead to 22-18 with just over five minutes remaining.
Despite holding the Roosters up on the final play of the match, it wasn’t enough to overcome the 22-18 scoreboard as the Raiders suffered their first loss of the season.
