Outstanding Storm keep Raiders scoreless 
© Melbourne Storm Duffie scored two tries, the second this spectacular effort Melbourne Storm has kept the Raiders scoreless at home for the first time in their history to run away with a 26-0 win at Canberra Stadium, maintaining their two point lead at the top of the NRL ladder.
Two tries to winger Matt Duffie, one a spectacular face-first effort in the second half, and singles to Ryan Hinchcliffe, Cooper Cronk and Jesse Bromwich gave Melbourne the comfortable win, but it was the defensive effort that was most pleasing to Storm skipper Cameron Smith.
“It was a fair effort, we know the Raiders boys are always hard to play on their own turf,” said Smith.
“Defensively we were strong, they made some line breaks they would have scored on any other day, but we managed to keep them out.
“They always start physically, they’ve got a big forward pack, and they made us work hard in the first half. But we hung in there, played some good footy in the second half and they were the first team to crack.”
The scoring started for Storm in the third minute when Duffie got on the end of a great line break by Maurice Blair after a superb short ball by Cronk.
Despite the flying start Storm had to wait until the 38th minute for their second try. Hinchcliffe scored against his former club next to the posts after receiving a short pass from Smith.
Storm’s third try was superb. Duffie gathered a long kick 20 metres out from his own try line. He held the ball up waiting for Billy Slater before passing to the flying fullback who sliced straight through the Raiders’ defensive line. Slater drew the sole defender before offloading to Cronk in support to scored under the posts.
Next it was Duffie’s turn to score his second of the game, and it’s another that will be included in his ever-lengthening list of career highlights. A set play with the ball passing through the hands of Cronk, Kevin Proctor and Slater saw Duffie get the ball with plenty of work to do. He somehow managed to stay in the field of play before diving full stretch to cross the line, finishing with a face plant that felt like it went on forever.
Finally, Jesse Bromwich scored a sensational try, with the ball crossing from the right side of the field, across to the left and back to the right again. The big prop carried the ball in one hand while fending would-be defenders off with the other on his way to the line.
Storm next meet the Brisbane Broncos at AAMI Park on Friday night, with kick-off at 7.35pm.
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Source: melbournestorm.com.au
Topic: Outstanding Storm keep Raiders scoreless
