''Disgraceful'' is how Raiders under-20s coach Mick Mantelli described the refereeing decision that has put his side on the brink of elimination from the Holden Cup.
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The minor premiers suffered an agonising 27-26 extra-time loss to Canterbury in Sunday's qualifying final at ANZ Stadium.
The Raiders have every right to be angry after a dubious call to allow a try to Bulldogs fullback Patrick Templeman in the 72nd minute levelled the scores.
Templeman appeared to be in front of the Bulldogs' kicker before he regathered the ball and scored the crucial four-pointer. Fittingly, it was Templeman who delivered the ultimate dagger, slotting a field goal in the 84th minute to take the Bulldogs within 80 minutes of the grand final.
Mantelli did not mince his words in his assessment of the decision.
''It's disgraceful, everyone in the whole stadium could see he was offside, bar that bloke in the box,'' Mantelli said.
''Everyone's losing confidence in the referees because yesterday with the seventh tackle [in the Cowboys versus Sharks NRL elimination final]. It's only 20s, they [the NRL] probably don't care too much about it, but there's a lot of people on the other end of it who do care about it.''
After numerous replays by the video referee, it was determined there was insufficient evidence to overturn the original decision by the on-field official.
''There's a white line in front of him, how much more guidance does he need?'' Mantelli said.
''Someone needs to be accountable for it. Once they have accountability, then they might get it right.''
The Raiders had won eight of their nine games going into finals series, but the only defeat had been a 62-12 thrashing by the Bulldogs. In fact, the Raiders had not beaten the Bulldogs in the under-20s competition since 2008.
A similar pattern appeared as the Raiders trailed 22-10 at half-time, before they rallied to score three tries in the space of five minutes to take the lead.
The Bulldogs had three missed shots at field goal and Raiders halfback Mitch Cornish failed to connect on his attempt before Templeman was on target.
The Raiders will now face the Wests Tigers in a sudden-death semi-final at Allianz Stadium at 3.05pm on Friday.
The Tigers kept their season alive with a 26-22 win over the Broncos, also in golden-point extra time.
''We've just got to put this behind us as fast as possible,'' Mantelli said.
''The Tigers had the same but different emotions, so it'll be two desperate teams that will want to progress.''
The Raiders will monitor winger Jeremy Hawkins (hamstring) and forward Mitchell Barnett (back) during the week.
CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 27 (Jaelen Feeney 2, Shaun Lane, Matthew Fukofuka, Patrick Templeman tries; Templeman 3 goals, field goal) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 26 (Jack Ahearn, Jeremy Hawkins, Brenko Lee, Jono Kent, Jonathon Reuben tries; Mitch Cornish 3 goals) at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
