Round 15
Canberra Raiders 24 l. North Queensland Cowboys 28

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Campese magic not enough to save Raiders
Sun June 24, 2007
Source: www.raiders.com.au

The CFMEU Canberra Raiders have fallen agonisingly short of victory in their home clash against the Cowboys tonight, going down 28-24 in yet another NRL match marred by controversy.

A sensational performance by Raiders five-eighth Terry Campese - who was one of four players to score a brace of tries in the entertaining affair - was overshadowed by some crucial decisions made by officials during the match, with the 11,000-strong crowd strongly venting their displeasure at referee Tony De La Haras and his touch judges at fulltime.

The crowd was treated to a thrilling first half in which the lead changed hands six times, but the Raiders found themselves trailing by 8 points at the break after Jonathan Thurston created havoc on the edges late in the half.

Trailing 22-20 with under 10 minutes to go, Campese came within an inch of putting the Raiders in the lead and claiming a personal hat-trick of tries, but the ball was dislodged from his grip by Matt Bowen's leg as he reached out to score.

Cowboys winger Ty Williams scooped up the loose ball and sent Brenton Bowen racing 90 metres to score at the other end of the field, but as the video referee reviewed the play it appeared that Williams was clearly in an offside position when he claimed the ball. A call in the Raiders favour seemed to be a formality but the video ref awarded a try to the Cowboys with a benefit of the doubt ruling, incensing the vocal Raiders' supporters.

Despite the obvious setback, the Raiders continued to attack and kept their hopes alive when Michael Dobson found David Milne with a neat cross-field chip kick to the corner. A lovely offload by Dane Tilse then sent Marshall Chalk bursting downfield to set up one last attacking raid, but a lost ball let the relieved Cowboys off the hook.

In other incidents to come out of the match, Raiders second-rower Glen Turner was placed on report in the second half for a high tackle, while the Cowboys may face a possible penalty after it was alleged that they had 14 players on the field for a period in the second half.

North Queensland Cowboys 28 (B Bowen 2, M Bowen 2, J Thurston tries; Thurston 4 goals) d. CFMEU Canberra Raiders 24 (Terry Campese 2, Marshall Chalk 2, David Milne tries; Michael Dobson 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium.

Report source: www.raiders.com.au

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