On Saturday the Rattle n Hum Reef Raiders took on Brothers at the Port Douglas Sports Complex.

With both teams eager for a win to end the first round it was the Raiders who started well with Grae Gilbert kicking a penalty to take the lead.

But with the ground being wet and the ball slippery the Raiders made a few mistakes and Brothers scored first with a well weighted grubber in the corner.

The next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle with both teams getting close but just not finishing their movements off.

Finally the Raiders took a raid down the far side of the field which saw Shane Branch get his token try for the year. Just before the half the Brothers teamscored a soft try and convert making the Raiders go into the break behind by a point.

The second half saw some great running rugby by both teams and Brothers skipped away scoring another try. This only sparked the Raiders into action and saw them take the attack to the slowly tiring Brothers' team through a try to Grae Gilbert.

Then, after the kick off the Raiders took just five minutes to put them in front with Esmay Evans scoring right in the corner.

With five mins remaining it was helter skelter from both teams, but it was Brothers who took full advantage of the Raiders' errors and refereeing decisions that saw them score in the corner with two minutes to go.

But to the Raiders' credit they never gave up and tried right to end with the crowd on the edge of their seat. Only the bounce of the ball and time pulled them up short and hand them their second loss in a row.

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Coach Adrian Bannnerman said he is not worried at this stage of the season.

"It's still a long way to go and we are only just off the mark. Even the Brothers' coach reckons that any team can win on the day."

The players that stood out this week were Ethan Hoffman in his first game at flyhalf, new guy Matt Crockett, the ever-reliable Disco Stew, and the Paddys Man of the Match went to Jackson Demler.

The Raiders have a bye this weekend due to the long weekend, but the weekend after sees them travel to JCU's home ground.  Let's see if they get back into the winner's circle.