[Source: NRL]

The Raiders have survived a late comeback to overcome the Roosters 20-18 in a valuable away win to close out Round 17.

Bouncing back from a disappointing loss to the Warriors in Round 15, the Raiders rolled out of their bye red-hot on Sunday night, with Jamal Fogarty terrorising James Tedesco with the high ball, setting up two early tries off the boot.

With errors creeping into their game in the second-half, Ricky Stuart’s side couldn’t convert a try after the 28th minute but thanks to a Jarrod Croker penalty goal, two points was enough to secure the win at Moore Park.

While Trent Robinsons’ side stayed in the contest for majority of the match, despite losing Angus Crichton (knee), Egan Butcher (head knock) and Jake Turpin (rib), they couldn’t quite catch up to the Green Machine’s early lead.

The Raiders made a blistering start when a Fogarty kick put the Roosters under too much pressure in the in goal and a penalty against Egan Butcher for being offside handed Croker the opportunity to open the scoring for the Raiders.

The next ten minutes saw a fairly even contest but it was the Raiders who won the arm wrestle when Jack Wighton leaped over Tedesco to snatch a Fogarty bomb and muscle his way over the line.

With an eight-point lead, the Raiders had all the momentum at Allianz and ran in another two tries in seven minutes.

It was a recurring nightmare for Tedesco when Fogarty punted another high ball over the line and this time Seb Kris outjumping the Roosters fullback, knocking the ball back for Matt Timoko to score the Raiders’ third. Croker converted both to make it 18-4.

With just seconds remaining in the half the Roosters fired their first shot when halfback Luke Keary took the ball to the line before offloading to Joey Manu who charged downfield to score and reduce the deficit 18-6 at the break.

This time it was the Roosters with the leap when Manu beat Croker to a Keary bomb just two minutes into the second half to put the home side right back in the contest at 18-12.

But the Raiders extended the lead 20-12 in the 56th minute when Croker slotted another two-pointer after Luke Keary was penalised for interference in the ruck.

It was Origin II player-of-the-match Lindsay Collins who broke the 33-minute deadlock when the barnstorming forward crashed over the line to bring the scoreboard to 20-18.

But time proved the enemy for the home side and that’s as far as the Roosters came to chasing the Raiders’ early lead.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.