The Raiders have rewarded the Canberra faithful with a first home win in more than three months, defeating a luckless Warriors side 20-18 at GIO Stadium.
Coming off a four-game losing streak, Ricky Stuart’s men looked a changed side as they dominated the visitors in the opening minutes on Friday night.
But after bursting out to an early lead, they were again guilty of careless handling errors, defensive lapses and at times insipid attacking play.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
Only Warriors five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita’s wayward goal-kicking spared the Raiders’ blushes, as they were outscored by the visitors four tries to three.
Three conversions and a penalty from Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty made the difference.
“We were lucky, we were really lucky,” said Stuart after fulltime.
“We probably didn’t respect the position we were in and it cost us.
“No one’s going to feel sorry for us if we get beaten and we’ve been unlucky, so I don’t feel sorry for anyone. I’ll take the two points.”
Canberra winger Xavier Savage was part of a problematic right edge for Stuart, with two of the New Zealanders’ tries coming down his side of the field.
But after the Warriors’ NSW forward Mitch Barnett crashed over to level the scores at 14-14 with 20 minutes to go, it was Savage who got on the end of a Kaeo Weekes kick to score a crucial four-pointer, duly converted by Fogarty on his return from a lengthy biceps injury.
“Don’t look at Xavier and point the finger at him in regards to those defensive issues,” Stuart said.
“There was a lot more that happened on the inside of Xavier there.
“I thought Xavier was very good tonight. He needs to keep being good but he’s maturing into a really good footy player.”
Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake scored shortly after Savage’s try, but with a chance to draw level again Harris-Tavita made a hash of a simple conversion just to the left of goal, with first-choice sharpshooter Adam Pompey off injured.
Harris-Tavita was visibly shattered by the loss, making a beeline for the sheds as soon as the final siren sounded.
Cameras caught him all alone, breathing heavily, pondering what could have been.
“Goal-kicking is not the thing that defined us tonight,” Warriors coach Adam Webster said.
“We’ve gotta start better, 14-0 is not good enough. We were just chasing the game for the rest of it.”
Pompey limped off the field at halftime with an injured knee after a bruising first period for the visitors, who also lost fullback Taine Tuaupiki to a head knock in the opening minutes.
By that point the Raiders were already up through two tries in five minutes from Hudson Young, back in the side after a groin strain.
The Warriors’ outside backs struggled under Fogarty’s lofty bombs, with Tuaupiki and Dalene Watene-Zelezniak spilling catches in the swirling breeze in the opening half.
But the Raiders were all too often guilty of simple handling errors themselves.
After winning a repeat set 10 metres off Canberra’s try-line, the Warriors scored just before halftime through Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who had been shifted to fullback in Tuaupiki’s absence.
The Raiders looked uninspired in the second half, outscored by the Warriors three tries to one.
Only Fogarty’s trusty boot saved them from a fifth straight home loss and kept them in the race for the top eight, with a winnable home game against South Sydney next on the agenda.
