Raiders' late defeat a wakeup call: coachThe Canberra Raiders' National Youth Competition team yesterday had a heartbreaking 37-31 loss to an improved Wests Tigers, after leading by one point with two minutes left on the clock at Canberra Stadium.
Although disappointed by the loss, coach David Hamilton said it could be a blessing in disguise.
''We've been turning over possession cheaply and we've been doing it consistently and still winning, so maybe it's a good wakeup call for everybody,'' Hamilton said.
The Green Machine lead 12-10 at half-time, but a disappointing start to the second half saw the home side trailing 28-12 after 60 minutes.
To their credit, the Raiders fought back with two tries by winger Anthony Scott allowing them to reduce the deficit.
A penalty goal by Tigers half Jacob Miller in the 70th minute meant that a converted try was needed for the Raiders to get back into the match.
Junior New Zealand hooker Matt McIllrick answered the call by engineering and then finishing off an attacking opportunity which allowed the young Raiders to draw level at 30-30 with only seven minutes left in the match.
In a nail-biting finish, Raiders' captain Sam Williams edged his side in front with a field goal in the 76th minute.
But the Raiders failed to close the match out due to uncharacteristically flimsy defence and far too much dropped ball.
After locking the scores with a field goal in the 78th minute, Tigers fullback Jay Bonnell then broke the Raiders hearts a minute later when he latched onto an offload and raced 20m to score.
The Raiders' crisp attacking play and resolute defence that had become a feature of the side in the first seven weeks of the competition went missing as the Raiders were their own worst enemy for the majority of the match.
Williams, however, was positive despite the loss.
''Probably in the long run, the game's not going to hurt us too much providing we do bounce back next week,'' Williams said.
''It's just extremely disappointing to lose a game that we should really have won.''
McIllrick, who had a fine game after returning from a rib injury, echoed Williams' comments.
''There was no lack of effort by any means, and we did well to come back, but execution in the end is what let us down,'' McIllrick said.
''The game was there to be won, but we took the foot off the pedal when we got to one in front ... so we've got to learn from that and step up for next week against Manly.''
Source: The Canberra Times
Topic: Raiders' late defeat a wakeup call: coach
