Canberra pulled off the boilover of the season so far by putting the first blemish on Melbourne's premiership defence with a 24-20 win at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
The Raiders have now won three in a row on Storm turf and squared their season ledger at 4-4 whilst handing the 2012 premiers their first defeat since July 27 last year.
Melbourne had won 16 straight coming into the clash but that record was immediately under threat as Blake Ferguson scored for the Raiders just 10 minutes in.
The Storm hit back through Jesse Bromwich and a piece of Cooper Cronk magic saw Billy Slater running through for the home side's second try shortly after the half-hour mark.
For the second week running Melbourne let a late try in as Ferguson made it a double in the shadows of half-time and converted it himself to lock things up at 12-12 at the break.
The Raiders then took the advantage with tries to Jack Wighton and a bolting Reece Robinson within the first quarter-hour after the re-start.
But their trademark never-say-die kept the Storm in the contest as Justin O'Neill and Mahe Fonua crossed for four-pointers to narrow the deficit to just four points with 20 minutes to play.
Melbourne could not execute in the final minutes despite a handful of chances to capitalise on possession and errors and Canberra held on.
In a blow for David Furner's outfit, representative forward Tom Learoyd-Lahrs went off in the opening exchanges with a foot injury.
Canberra: 24 (B Ferguson 2, J Wighton, R Robinson tries; Ferguson 4/4conversions)
Melbourne: 20 (J Bromwich, B Slater, J O'Neill, M Fonua tries; C Smith 2/4 conversions)
Source: http://au.rd.yahoo.com/sport/rss/rugbyleague/*http%3A//au.sports.yahoo.com/league/news/article/-/17014107/raiders-ruin-storms-perfect-start/
Topic: Raiders ruin Storm's perfect start
