NYC Semi Warriors 38 Canberra 39The Vodafone Junior Warriors coughed up a six-point lead late in the contest to allow Canberra to steal a 39-38 victory in a remarkable NYC finals clash at Canberra Stadium.
The win would have taken the 2010-2011 premiership winners directly to the third week of the play-offs but now they must make another trip across the Tasman next Saturday (7.15pm NZ time) to face the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium in what will be a sudden-death contest.
Such an outcome wasn't in prospect as today's match entered the final minutes following a Siliva Havili try which had the Vodafone Junior Warriors leading 38-32. They threatened to go further ahead too as they kept the heat on the home side until they offered Canberra a glimmer of hope.
Only four minutes remained when the Vodafone Junior Warriors had the chance to put the contest to bed. Instead they handed over possession on Canberra's 20 and then compounded matters by unnecessarily conceding a penalty for a flop.
The Raiders gleefully accepted the gift, rolling downfield too easily and working the ball left to put winger Jeremy Hawkins across unopposed. Worse still, the Vodafone Junior Warriors showed no urgency in trying to stop Hawkins bringing the ball around closer to the posts, handing Anthony Milford a far more comfortable angle for the match-levelling conversion. He duly slotted it yet, with only about a minute to go, the odds seemed to be on golden point extra time; only the Vodafone Junior Warriors were again unable to find the defensive steel which had characterised much of their work in the second half.
The Raiders went wide, earned six more tackles when the Vodafone Junior Warriors knocked down a pass and, with four seconds left on the clock, they set up Milford to slot the match-winning field goal.
It was a devastating way to lose after the manner in which the Vodafone Junior Warriors had been able to transform the flow of the battle. They'd been out of it early on, falling 0-14 behind early and 6-20 after 22 minutes. By halftime they'd drawn back to 16-20 only to yield two early second half tries to trail 16-32. It might have been concerning but, with more than 30 minutes to play, time was a friend.
So it proved as the Vodafone Junior Warriors engineered a momentum shift with brutal intent both with the ball and without it. During this phase Canberra was completely dominated as the visiting side took hold of proceedings.
In a 20-minute assault between the 54th and 74th minutes the Vodafone Junior Warriors blasted their way to four tries and came so close to more. They were unstoppable as their 22-point surge took them into the lead. So many players excelled none more so than Toka Likiliki who so nearly had a third try ? but then, through an error and a penalty, it all unravelled.
If the Vodafone Junior Warriors are to make their third straight grand final, they'll have to do so via the difficult route starting with the Roosters next weekend.
It was small consolation that they should be involved in a quite dazzling affair which produced 14 tries, 77 points, a withering comeback and finally a great escape act.
If the Vodafone Junior Warriors felt numb afterwards it was small wonder as they fell to their third defeat in three matches at Canberra Stadium.
Match details:At Canberra Stadium, Canberra
NZ Warriors 38 (Toka Likiliki 2, David Fusitua, Trent Bishop, Mason Lino, Ngani Laumape, Siliva Havili tries; Mason Lino 5 conversions).
Canberra Raiders 39 (Edrick Lee 2, Jeremy Hawkins 2, Jonathon Reuben, Jack Ahearn, Anthony Milford tries; Anthony Milford 5 conversions, field goal).
Halftime: 20-16 Raiders.
Referee: Gavin West.
Source: http://www.rleague.com/content/article.php?id=45544
Topic: Junior Raiders Win Round Two in Nail-biter Against #Warriors
