The NRLW Canberra Raiders have gone down against the Cronulla Sharks 22-10 in the first match of Saturday’s triple header at GIO Stadium.
With both teams looking to bounce back after deficits in round three, it was a defensive battle from the beginning.
It was Cronulla’s Cassie Staples who opened up the scoring in the corner following an offside penalty which led to her breaking through the Raiders’ defence. An unsuccessful conversion saw the score 4-0.
Following a kick from Shreidan Gallagher, it was eyes up football from Elise Simpson who scooped up the ball and went straight over with no defenders in sight for Canberra’s first points.
Following a set restart not long after, winger Mackenzie Wiki twisted around to score following some left to right fieldwork, however this was later disallowed due to Wiki’s hair being on the touch-line.
The Green Machine went down to 12 players in the 21st minute after Jordyn Preston was sent to the sin bin due to contact on the kicker.
Cronulla used this to their advantage through their winger Georgia Ravics going over for four. This was backed up a successful conversion from Chantay Kiria-Ratu which saw the scoreline read 10-4
With the Raiders’ desperate to put some points on the board before halftime, Simaima Taufa came through to go over underneath the posts following a knock on from Cronulla putting the ball back into play. However, this was sent to the Bunker for review and it was found that the Raiders skipper lost contact with the ball, therefore, the try was reversed.
Going into the sheds, the scoreline remained 10-4 favouring the Sharks.
Sharks’ first scoring opportunity came not long after kickoff with Quincy Dodd coming making a linebreak through Raider’s overlap through the middle, however, it was dropped just before the tryline.
The Sharks bounced back from this through Georgia Hannaway scoring just next to the posts. Following a bunker review, the scoreline extended to 16-4 following a successful conversion.
With no one around to stop her, prop Sophie Holyman goes through under the posts in the 54th minute to close the gap by six, 16-10.
But the Sharks quickly responded to this through Annessa Biddle making some metres through the middle of the field to hand the ball over to Quincy Dodd for her to add on four.
The Sharks led 22-10 with 12 minutes to go.
With another scoring opportunity looking positive for the Raiders, Mackenzie Wiki finds the gap and goes over on the edge but heartbreakingly loses possession just before grounding the ball.
After a strong effort from the Green Machine, this is where the scoreline remained when the siren blew at fulltime.
The Raiders will travel to Wagga Wagga next Saturday for their Magic Round clash against the North Queensland Cowboys.
