A three-try haul to Reece Robinson, including the match-winner, allowed Canberra to extend their NRL hoodoo over St George Illawarra with a come-from-behind 22-18 victory on Monday.
The Raiders were trailing 18-16 with three minutes to go before Robinson found a yawning gap on the left-hand side of the field in the Dragons’ quarter, his try dooming the visitors to yet another loss at Canberra Stadium.
The Dragons haven’t won in the nation’s capital since 2000 – and that was so long ago that even Raiders coach David Furner played in the side.
The jubilation was evident for the Raiders as the final siren sounded, with the ACT squad narrowly escaping with just their sixth win of the season.
The visitors looked all but set for victory after two second-half tries to Mitch Rein got them in front 18-16 with 12 minutes to play.
They’d dominated as soon as the second half got underway.
But the never-say-die Raiders left it to Robinson for a stirring late comeback, adding to his two tries from the first half.
Robinson had scored both those tries in the dying minutes of the first half to turn a deadlocked scoreline into a 16-6 advantage.
It was the Raiders who opened up the scoring after nine minutes, with Edrick Lee scoring out wide from a Jarrod Croker pass.
For the first 20 minutes, the Raiders were relentless in attack, but despite losing Ben Creagh, Beau Scott and Brett Morris to State of Origin duty, the Dragons were up to the task.
They managed to hold the Raiders off and when Bronx Goodwin crossed on the left wing, the Dragons suddenly found themselves on equal footing at 6-6.
That looked to be the scoreline even four minutes to go before the break, before Robinson launched his late two-try burst.
In the first he was helped after being bundled over the line by Matt Cooper’s momentum, while the second he managed all on his own motor.
Joel Thompson made an impressive line-break before passing to Robinson, who dashed 40m to the line.
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