Raiders go down by six to Knights

With the Green Machine needing a win in their push to the finals, the Knights were not going to make it easy.

Following an ankle tap on him not even two minutes in, Francis Manulelua made a linebreak to pass to Fletcher Sharpe to take it the rest of the way for the first try of the afternoon.

Newcastle’s right-hand edge proved to be a threat early on when Dominic Young twisted over in the corner to extend their lead 12-0.

After an error from Kalyn Ponga, the Raiders used their Captain’s challenge and it was successful after it was shown that the ball lost control.

Right in the middle of Newcastle’s set, Jed Stuart made an intercept on the 30 metre line and kicked into second gear, getting past two Knights wingers and going over for four with all of GIO getting behind him.

Following some gritty sets from both teams, a quick flick five metres out from Tom Starling saw Zac Hosking find the gap and barge through to even out the score 12-all.

Not long after, Dominic Young made some metres down the right edge following a set restart; the winger passed the ball back into play to Kalyn Ponga on the right edge for the captain to add on four.

Late in the first half, it was a Weekes and Sasagi combination on the right edge with Sasagi making a linebreak through that from him to come around and ground the ball just before the posts.

With the scores locked 18-all going into the second half, the next forty minutes were set to be relentless.

In a crucial moment, the Raiders once again used their Captain’s Challenge after a penalty was awarded to the Knights for a knock-on. This ended up being successful, with the Raiders regaining possession of the ball.

This built momentum for the Green Machine as Simi Sasagi went over for a double on his own, taking on multiple Newcastle defenders to extend the lead 22-18.

Following a dangerous tackle on Corey Horsburgh from Dane Gagai, Ethan Sanders made the score 24-18 through a successful penalty goal.

However, this lead didn't stick for long as Dominic Young made a linebreak but got taken down by Simi Sasagi; this led to a Knights shift to the other side of the field, where Dane Gagai went over to lock the scores once again.

The 24-all score disappeared shortly after, following a high tackle from Joe Tapine that led to a successful penalty goal by Sandon Smith.

In the 73rd minute, Corey Horsburgh was sent to the sin bin.

Using this to their advantage, Dominic Young went over for a double in the corner to make the final score 30-24.

The Canberra Raiders will look to bounce back against the Cronulla Sharks in Sydney next Saturday at Ocean Park Stadium.