This was supposed to be the first stop of the bandwagon express. The night the Canberra Raiders announced themselves as as genuine threat this year.
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The Raiders and their fans know the moment well - time running out in the regular season and needing to win to keep finals hopes alive.
But instead of gathering momentum, the Green Machine slipped on a miserable, rainy night in the capital and they're counting the costs on multiple fronts after a missed opportunity.
The Raiders couldn't find top gear in their clash against the ladder-leading Penrith Panthers, landing the first blow but then always playing from behind in an 26-6 loss.
The match up with the depleted Panthers - who were without a trio of stars in Nathan Cleary, Jerome Luai and Viliame Kikau - was always going to be a danger game and it proved to be just that.
The Raiders stumbled and lost Joe Tapine to injury in what could be a major blow for the rest of the year.
Tapine was in agony with a rib injury and collapsed in pain when he eventually got off the field, robbing the Raiders of the man regarded as the best front-rower in the game.
The 28-year-old has been on a mission this year, destroying opponents and trying to put the Raiders on their back as they go on late-season charge to the top eight.
The loss, however, leaves them in ninth place and still two points behind the Sydney Roosters with time running out for a classic Canberra surge.
"I thought we started well and we got in a grind with them, but they're a good team. It was execution that let us down," said Raiders skipper Elliott Whitehead.
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"We couldn't get the field position we needed. It's disappointing."
A win would have put a gap between the Raiders and Manly, but four teams - the Roosters, Raiders, Manly and the Dragons - are still alive in the desperate last four games of the year.
The showdown with the Dragons next weeks looms as a make or break fixture before the Raiders meet Newcastle, Manly and the Wests Tigers to finish the campaign.
The frustrating aspect for coach Ricky Stuart is how the Raiders started the game. They scored first when Josh Papalii crashed over the line and looked the more dominant period for the first 10 minutes.
But while the Panthers were missing three of their most influential stars, they still had a stable of representative players ready to spoil the Raiders' party.
Whitehead dropped the ball in the first set after Papalii's try and NSW rake Api Koroisau split defenders to level the score.
The drizzling rain made it difficult for both sides to hold on to the ball, with constant errors draining the game of momentum before the Panthers finally found some grip.
Hudson Young gave away a silly penalty to allow the Panthers to snatch the lead before Stephen Crichton pounced on a Sean O'Sullivan grubber to put the Raiders on the back foot.
Sean O'Sullivan had the daunting task of filling suspended superstar Nathan Cleary's boots, but looked right at home as the Panthers chased their seventh win in a row in games without their chief playmaker.
Crichton's try brought the game to life. The Raiders lost Joe Tapine to a rib injury and moments later James Fisher-Harris was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Ryan Sutton.
The Raiders had four sets in a row trying to crack the undermanned Panthers' line, but failed to do some and trailed by eight at half-time.
Tension spilled over as soon as the second half started, with Nick Cotric's high tackle sparking a melee before he was sin-binned.
The Panthers took advantage where the Raiders couldn't, exploiting Cotric's absence and taking space to send Dylan Edwards over the line.
New five-eighth Jaeman Salmon added salt to the Raiders' wounds when he slid over to put the result beyond doubt.
AT A GLANCE
PENRITH PANTHERS 26 (Api Koroisau, Stephen Crichton, Dylan Edwards, Jaeman Salmon tries; Stephen Crichton 5 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 6 (Josh Papalii try; Jamal Fogarty goal) at Canberra Stadium on Saturday. Referee: Grant Atkins. Crowd: 16,912
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