ID :
54965
Sun, 04/12/2009 - 01:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/54965
The shortlink copeid
Raiders deepen Sharks woes
Cronulla have slumped to their fourth straight NRL loss, going down 24-14 to Canberra despite a hat-trick from winger David Simmons.
The Raiders emerged with a hard fought four-tries-to-three victory in front of 8,561 fans at Toyota Stadium.
Simmons scored all of the home team's tries, while Jarrod Croker, Stuart Flanagan,
Alan Tongue and Terry Campese crossed for the Raiders.
Sharks kicker Luke Covell had an off night, missing all three conversions and
kicking a sole penalty while Campese and Raiders fullback Josh Dugan kicked two
goals each from as many attempts.
Despite missing four of their first team players from last week's defeat to the
Bulldogs through suspension and injury, including captain Paul Gallen, the Sharks
started brightly and kept the Raiders camped inside their half for most of the
opening 20 minutes.
But for all their endeavour they could only manage one try on the back of an error
from Canberra prop David Shillington in the ninth minute when Trent Barrett threw a
spectacular pass, cutting out two players, to allow Simmons to post his first for
the night.
And that failure to turn the pressure into points proved costly when Raiders
five-eighth Campese created some magic to send Croker over for his third of the
season.
Campese chipped over the defensive line 30m out, regathered and then threw a
speculative pass wide to Croker to give the Raiders a surprise 6-4 lead with 28
minutes gone.
Despite some late pressure on the Raiders' line, all the Sharks could manage was a
penalty to lock the scores at 6-6 at halftime.
Four minutes after the break the Sharks made the most of a knock-on and then a
penalty against the Raiders when Mitch Brown's cut-out ball found Simmons who
crossed from five metres out for his second.
Less than six minutes later, though, Flanagan scooted past some wafer-thin defence
from dummy half to crash over under the posts and restore the Raiders' lead.
Simmons' hat-trick came in the 56th minute when the Sharks again punished the
Raiders for their poor handling, Seymour's delicate cross-field kick evading Croker
and falling into the Shark winger's grateful hands.
Cronulla's poor marker defence was again exposed by Raiders skipper Tongue, who
crashed over under the posts again with a short dummy-half run to open up a
four-point lead.
The video referee ruled out a possible fourth for Simmons with 10 to go when Mitch
Brown was ruled to have knocked-on a Barrett kick before Tongue scooped up a loose
ball three minutes from time as the Sharks got desperate, sending Campese into space
to run 70m and secure the victory.
The Raiders emerged with a hard fought four-tries-to-three victory in front of 8,561 fans at Toyota Stadium.
Simmons scored all of the home team's tries, while Jarrod Croker, Stuart Flanagan,
Alan Tongue and Terry Campese crossed for the Raiders.
Sharks kicker Luke Covell had an off night, missing all three conversions and
kicking a sole penalty while Campese and Raiders fullback Josh Dugan kicked two
goals each from as many attempts.
Despite missing four of their first team players from last week's defeat to the
Bulldogs through suspension and injury, including captain Paul Gallen, the Sharks
started brightly and kept the Raiders camped inside their half for most of the
opening 20 minutes.
But for all their endeavour they could only manage one try on the back of an error
from Canberra prop David Shillington in the ninth minute when Trent Barrett threw a
spectacular pass, cutting out two players, to allow Simmons to post his first for
the night.
And that failure to turn the pressure into points proved costly when Raiders
five-eighth Campese created some magic to send Croker over for his third of the
season.
Campese chipped over the defensive line 30m out, regathered and then threw a
speculative pass wide to Croker to give the Raiders a surprise 6-4 lead with 28
minutes gone.
Despite some late pressure on the Raiders' line, all the Sharks could manage was a
penalty to lock the scores at 6-6 at halftime.
Four minutes after the break the Sharks made the most of a knock-on and then a
penalty against the Raiders when Mitch Brown's cut-out ball found Simmons who
crossed from five metres out for his second.
Less than six minutes later, though, Flanagan scooted past some wafer-thin defence
from dummy half to crash over under the posts and restore the Raiders' lead.
Simmons' hat-trick came in the 56th minute when the Sharks again punished the
Raiders for their poor handling, Seymour's delicate cross-field kick evading Croker
and falling into the Shark winger's grateful hands.
Cronulla's poor marker defence was again exposed by Raiders skipper Tongue, who
crashed over under the posts again with a short dummy-half run to open up a
four-point lead.
The video referee ruled out a possible fourth for Simmons with 10 to go when Mitch
Brown was ruled to have knocked-on a Barrett kick before Tongue scooped up a loose
ball three minutes from time as the Sharks got desperate, sending Campese into space
to run 70m and secure the victory.
