Palmerston Raiders dominate NRL NT encounter against Litchfield Bears

Palmerston Raiders showed they’re finals ready with a dominant 52-0 win over Litchfield Bears while Nightcliff held on to see off Brothers in NRL NT round 14 action

PALMERSTON Raiders showed they’re finals ready with a dominant 52-0 win over Litchfield Bears while Nightcliff held on to see off Brothers in NRL NT round 14 action.

The Raiders showed their strength early on throwing off tackles enabling backs Matthew Johnson and Tevita Kanalagi to pick up an early try each.

Litchfield weren’t without their chances with Dillan Vanderberg and Jarrod Burgess threatening the line but Palmerston’s goal line defence kept Bear’s at bay.

But as the game went on momentum swung further and further in favour of Raiders.

Blake Fletcher, who had a massive all-around game, broke through the defence to put a try under the posts and Brad Hansen soon followed with a try for the men in green as well.

Litchfield entered the second half with more intensity than they showed in the first knowing at that stage it was all or nothing.

But as soon as Raiders regained possession there was no stopping them with Kanalagi making a massive run which eventually paid off in a try for Matthew Johnson on the opposite wing.

Raiders’ big man Joel Turaga caused chaos through the middle bursting through tackle after tackle to give his strike runners plenty of room.

And it was his runs alongside the direction of captain Alex Johnson and Fletcher that allowed Palmerston to almost coast through their opposition’s defence.

Fletcher nabbed his second while Clifford Timms, Will Beers and Chuck Norris were also benefactors of their side’s dominance with each scoring a try to extend the score.

It was a game that coach Merg Mikaelian was proud of and a sign that Palmerston were finding their consistency and power at the perfect time of the season.

“I’m proud of that. Not so much the score line but the game plan and how the guys stuck to what we came out to do,” Mikaelian said.

“We’re really trying to focus on a semi-final type of football and what that means. I’m not too fussed about the score line but I was pleased we kept them to zero with some brilliant goal line defence.

“The consistency is what we’re looking for and the turning point came in that Brothers win a few weeks back (Palmerston won 44-6) and that continued on against Nightcliff and now here.

“We just have to tune ourselves up again against Sharks next week which will be another great test for us.”

Meanwhile, Nightcliff Dragons held on to beat Darwin Brothers 32-18 and secure their spot on top of the NRL NT table.

The Dragons came out firing with Jone Vakacegu, Dain Smith and Karl Younger among their scorers.

And though Brothers mounted a comeback with Aidan Singleton scoring a brace it was too little to overturn the margin

Northern Sharks nailed on a second place finish to the regular season with a comprehensive 60-0 win over South Darwin.

Simaika Salaa scored a hat-trick and may have been on for more but the Rabbitohs were forced to forfeit with 15 minutes to play due to player shortage.