The Canberra Raiders have overcome thunder and lightning to defeat the St George Illawarra Dragons 18-14 at Canberra Stadium this afternoon.

Both teams were still able to put on a fine display of wet weather football as the rain pelted down - both coaches opting for kicks early on the tackle count.

At half time the scores were locked up at 10-all following a 90 metre run from Joel Monaghan who picked a loose ball just before half time.

The turning point was a try to Simon Woolford in the 57th minute, creating an eight point buffer. A late try to Dragons rookie David Howell gave Saints some hope but the more experienced Raiders' outfit won out in the end.

The win, however may be dampened for the Raiders with Michael Hodgson being place on report following a high shot on Dragons forward Ryan Tandy.

Sat 29 March 2003 5:30 PM
Venue: Canberra Stadium
Referee: Sean Hampstead
Crowd: 13,744

Penalties: Raiders 9-7; Scrums: Dragons 10-4
Completions: Raiders 38/47, Dragons 36/43
Tackles: Raiders 308, Dragons 349
Missed Tackles: Raiders 14, Dragons 15
Hitups: Raiders 85, Dragons 81
Line Breaks: Raiders 3, Dragons 2
Offloads: Raiders 7, Dragons 9
Handling Errors: Raiders 10, Dragons 7

Raiders 18 (Tries: Mogg, J Monaghan, Woolford Goals: Schifcofske 3/5) defeated
Dragons 14 (Tries: Simmonds, Howell Goals: Riddell 3/3, Roberts 0/1)