The Raiders have survived a second half scare against a gallant Dragons side to secure a 36-26 victory at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
Four tries to the Raiders in the first half set up a 24-6 lead before Zac Lomax and Mikaele Ravalawa sparked three tries in six minutes for the home side to reduce the deficit to four with 15 minutes remaining.
Ravalawa and Lomax caused headaches for veteran Jarrod Croker and Albert Hopoate on the edge with the pair combining for five tries between them in a 30-minute blitz to get the Dragons back in the game.
The Raiders needed a big play to stop the momentum and got one with a strong tackle from Hudson Young on Jacob Liddle forcing the ball loose and enabling the visitors to get back to a 10-point lead in the following set.
A short side play by Zac Woolford sent Sebastian Kris over in the 72nd minute to give Ricky Stuart’s men some breathing space, where they were able to defend their way to an 11th win of the season.
The Raiders crossed first in the ninth minute with Jordan Rapana finishing off a Matt Timoko linebreak on the right edge with a run from dummy half to the line.
Canberra got their second eight minutes later through a rampaging run by Joseph Tapine, who skipped his way past four Dragons defenders to go over near the posts.
Timoko, who suffered a knee scare before half-time, got the Raiders’ third when Rapana and Elliott Whitehead combined to send the centre over the line for an 18-0 lead.
The Dragons, denied a try to Ravalawa due to a Talatau Amone forward pass only moments earlier, got on the board in the 33rd minute when Ravalawa went over from close range after Amone fell inches short a play before.
An error from Paul Turner under the high ball enabled the Raiders to push for their fourth and with eight seconds left on the clock Ricky Stuart’s men crossed with a Jamal Fogarty kick hitting the posts before falling in the hands of Matt Frawley.
Lomax crossed for his first when he picked up a Jarrod Croker error from a kick to narrow the Raiders’ lead after half-time but a Timoko try shortly – his second of the evening – stretched the visitors’ lead once more.
Lomax was in the action again in the 57th minute when he sent Ravalawa over for his double after a late offload from Jack de Belin created an overlap out wide, before he outleaped Croker for the ball to plant down the side’s fourth try.
Ravalawa’s third try had the Dragons believing late before Kris’s try through clumsy Red V defence was enough to get them home.