The Raiders ran in six tries to the Sharks two but the match was evenly poised until the final fifteen minutes.

The Sharks had named Chris Beattie as stand in captain for the injured David Peachey.

Beattie was hoping that the Sharks could go against the grain and win without the influential Peachey but it wasn’t to be.

The Raiders had only won one game coming into round eight and doubled their season tally with the win over the Sharks.

The bad news for Canberra is that key forward Luke Davico could be out for the season with a chest muscle injury.

The Raiders were first to make a mark on the scoreboard through a Clinton Schifcofske penalty goal but it was the Sharks who registered the first try of the match.

In the twelfth minute, half back Brett Kimmorley fashioned a banana kick to the left hand corner where Paul Mellor was waiting to pick up the try.

But the Raiders hit back immediately as Rod Jensen won the ball in a one-on-one strip from the kick off to race over untouched.

Four minutes later the Raiders were in again thanks to an unfortunate Preston Campbell mistake.

Campbell, playing at fullback for the injured Sharks captain David Peachey, fumbled a Mark McLinden kick one metre out from the Sharks line and Raider Brett Finch was there to make the most of it.

Then when Kimmorley hit the post from a relatively easily penalty goal attempt it seemed that it may not be the Sharks’ night.

The Sharks had the better of the possession and field position as half time approached but when the whistle went the Raiders still had a 12-4 lead.

Straight after half time, Kimmorley’s luck changed a little for the better as he waltzed through the Raiders defence for a try and this time he had no trouble putting the ball between the posts for the conversion.

The try can on the back of a questionable decision from referee Tony Archer.

Archer ruled that Raiders fullback Clinton Schifcofske was held in a tackle and penalised him when played on.

Schifcofske threw the ball in the direction of Archer in frustration and the ball struck the referee on the leg. The Raiders fullback will have to wait and see if he hears anymore about the incident.

The Canberra fullback’s next significant action may also been out of frustration but it had a positive effect on his side.

Schifcofske propped, jinked and accelerated to neutralise Kimmorley’s try with one of his own.

From there the Raiders shut the Sharks out of the match with tries to Jamaal Lolesi, Mark McLinden and a second to Jensen.

Apart from his incident with referee Archer, Schifcofske was the best player on the field.