The Penrith Panthers have won a thriller in Bathurst, thanks to a field goal to Peter Wallace with two minutes left on the clock.
While the Raiders looked more dangerous in the second half, and managed two late tries to even the scores, the Panthers were too cool in the end, despite a huge run of errors in the second half.
The result brings Penrith to the edge of the top eight, while the Raiders will be in danger of dropping out.
Bryce Cartwright and Jamie Soward were both great for the home side, while Josh Papalii and Jordan Rapana were strong for Canberra.
The Panthers were first on the board after Bryce Cartwright raced 80 metres off a Raiders error.
The skillful second-rower showed great speed to hold off a flying Jack Wighton over the long distance.
But the Raiders would hit back through their potent right side attack, with the in-form Rapana diving over after a magical Joseph Leilua offload.
Penrith would have the ascendancy over the remainder of the first half, however Suaia Matagi was unable to convert as Jack Wighton’s try-line tackle knocked the ball out of his grasp.
However the men from the foot of the mountains would eventually have their reward as Tyrone Peachey dived over thanks to yet another beautiful offload from Cartwright, who was undoubtedly the best player on field in the first half.
Both teams went hammer and tongs over the first 15 minutes of the second half, with tensions beginning to flare as both teams had plenty of opportunities.
And while Canberra went close on a couple of occasions it would be Penrith who extended their lead, thanks to some slick work from Matt Moylan.
On the last tackle the fullback supplied a perfect short grubber for Peta Hiku to dive on.
That score made it 18-6 to Penrith, with 25 minutes remaining in the encounter.
The next 15 minutes would be all the Raiders with the Panthers unable to finish their sets off thanks to a string of errors.
However the attacking brilliance of last weekend had well and truly deserted the men from the nation’s capital, as they found it difficult to pierce the courageous Panthers defence.
Eventually it would crack however as Paul Vaughan was too strong for an isolated defender on the line, leaving the Raiders just six points behind with 10 minutes remaining.
Moments later it appeared as though that gap had been filled, as some individual brilliance from Jarrod Croker, who ran 60 metres, set up Edrick Lee with an opportunity to score.
However Lee was stopped just before the line by a brilliant cover tackle from Jamie Soward.
But Raiders fans wouldn’t have to wait much longer to get across the line again, this time it was Rapana with an amazing leap and take from a cross-field kick from Blake Austin.
Over the next five minutes both teams traded field goal attempts before Peter Wallace put the result to bed with just one minute remaining with a perfect shot to hand his team a 19-18 point victory.
Penrith Panthers 19 (Cartwright, Peachey, Hiku tries; Soward 2 goals, Wallace field goal) defeated Canberra Raiders 18 (Vaughan, Rapana 2 tries; Croker 3 goals) at Carrington Park.
