RAIDERS’ FIGHTBACK TOO MUCH FOR BEARS
PALMERSTON Raiders dug deep and came up trumps in a thrilling 40-32 win over Litchfield Bears in the NRL NT A-Grade competition.
Although Palmerston had plenty of the early territory on Saturday it was Litchfield who were first to put their names on the board.
Bears found plenty of success in their first few pushes into the Palmerston half, and it was captain David Jacobson who made the move with a chip and chase, both his own, to score the opener.
It wasn’t long before the captain was the cause of celebrations once again weaving through the Raiders’ defence to dot down the second.
Palmerston had their chances early on as well, but the Bears’ defence mostly held strong, until a flat pass from Jacob Rainger put his captain Alex Johnson into space for a try.
But Jacobson, who was everywhere early on, slipped through a tackle to get another one down, off the back of strong ball control from halves Nathan Dixon and Brodie Morcom.
Raiders did just enough to keep their heads in the game ahead of halftime, with Matt Bennett and Shane Smith providing strong carries to allow Johnson to score his second.
And on the opposite side of halftime, Rainger pounced on a Josh Strzelecki charge down to see the scores levelled.
The scores tied, it was Litchfield’s turn to try and kindle something from the game and reclaim the lead. Deep passes back from Aaron Barnes and Dixon saw the ball find the hands of Jacobson once more, and again he did not disappoint, stepping around half of Palmerston to claim his fourth try.
And with the momentum and lead reclaimed Bears came again, with Dixon diving under the posts to join the tryscorer list.
Palmerston then flicked a switch and the momentum of the back-andforth encounter turned again, and soon a big carry from Nasoni Rokobiau put Will Nugraha through for a try.
Palmerston didn’t stop coming in the final 10 minutes, showing their fitness and want to win. And they got the scores they needed, the first from Brad Hansen to take the lead and another one from Will Smith secured the Raiders win.
“We had a bit of a chat after one of Litchfield’s tries, we all banded together and everyone stood up from there, so really good effort from all the boys,” Johnson said.
“It came down to the character from the boys.
“Everyone dug deep and did it for each other and in the end we came out trumps.
“Our forwards were getting us a few quick plays and got us on the front foot. And that just makes our job a lot easier when they’re giving us opportunities.
“We just want to keep building momentum now going into finals. We still have a few players out, but hopefully once we have them rolling back in we’ll be firing come finals.”