The Raiders have overcome a growing injury crisis to post their first victory of the season, hanging on to win 24-20 against Cronulla in a nail-biter at Canberra Stadium.
Earlier on Sunday, Canterbury held off the fast-finishing Wests Tigers to triumph 26-22 at a sold-out Belmore, giving Cameron Ciraldo consecutive wins in his first season as head coach.
Missing star prop Josh Papali'i, Xavier Savage and wingers Nick Cotric and Jordan Rapana, the Raiders lost hooker Danny Levi to a suspected broken jaw just minutes into the clash with the Sharks but that did not stop them taking the thrilling victory.
They led 24-10 on 56 minutes but had to hang on for dear life at the end, after back-to-back Cronulla tries had the visitors threatening to pinch the points before Canberra's defence dug in to ice the result.
It was the win the Raiders desperately needed, having been unlucky to lose their two opening matches of the year against North Queensland and the Dolphins.
Their hero was Corey Horsburgh, the bench prop scoring two tries following devastating runs that Cronulla had minimal chance of stopping.
In remarkable scenes, Horsburgh was punched by Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt in the back field but got up and scored with the next play, as the Raiders stamped their authority on the contest.
Hunt was sin-binned for the punch but the Sharks scored despite being a player down through Jesse Ramien, while they drew to within a single score when second rower Briton Nikora crossed with seven minutes to play.
Without injured Dally M Medal-winning halfback Nicho Hynes (calf), the Sharks benefited from a sharp attacking display from dynamic winger Ronaldo Mulitalo, who created the opening try of the match with magical footwork before scoring one courtesy of Will Kennedy's delicate kick.
The Raiders struck back with a beautiful Jack Wighton cut-out pass allowing Albert Hopoate to score in the corner and led when Horsburgh crashed over from close range.
Raider centre Matt Timoko gave them some breathing room early in the second with a trademark bustling try, breaking tackles and surging over the line for 18-10.
Bench hooker Tom Starling played nearly 80 minutes after Levi's early injury and turned in a quality display, finding two try assists and steering Canberra around the park with class.
Raiders star Joe Tapine churned out a match-high 158 metres, while Siosifa Talakai led Cronulla with 150 metres.
The result leaves the Sharks with a 1-2 win-loss record although they will not be panicking, particularly with Hynes expected back as soon as next Sunday's match against the Warriors.
Bulldogs hang on to beat Tigers
Canterbury added to Wests Tigers' early-season woes, with the joint-venture club last on the ladder through three rounds.
After the Bulldogs led 26-6 with 13 minutes to go, the Tigers piled on three tries in as many sets to put themselves back in the match.
Brent Naden was influential as temperature reached 32 degrees Celsius late in the match and took its toll on the players.
Naden twice put Brandon Wakeham through gaps in the lead-up to tries, while Luke Brooks dummied from his inside his own half to help Charlie Staines over for another.
Staines's try reduced the deficit to four points with nine minutes left and anything looked possible.
But it was too little too late, as errors on three of their final four sets cost the Tigers and allowed the Bulldogs to hang on.
Ultimately, the Tigers were left to regret 60 minutes of poor attack before their late comeback, with their only try in the first half coming from Naden who ran 80 metres after an intercept.
The only times they looked threatening in the first hour came when John Bateman poked his nose through the line or when Apisai Koroisau darted out of dummy half.
But even then, there was rarely anyone looming up in support.
Brooks put a grubber-kick dead in the first half and was caught with the ball on the last in the second term, while Bateman dropped a ball over the line on his return to the NRL.
Matters grew worse for the Tigers when David Klemmer, who was one of their best, was put on report for a cannonball tackle on Raymond Faitala-Mariner.
By the 52nd minute it prompted Tim Sheens to shake up his attacking spine, bringing Wakeham on at five-eighth and moving Adam Doueihi to fullback.
But when Matt Burton pushed through Doueihi to score moments later and set up a 20-point lead for the Bulldogs, the match looked over before the Tigers rallied late.
The Bulldogs, in contrast, had been dangerous in stifling conditions during the first half before their late collapse.
Two of their tries came down their electric left edge, with Paul Alamoti doing the early work and Josh Addo-Carr putting on the finishing touches.
One was the result of an Alamoti intercept from a poor Doueihi pass, while another came when Alamoti took a bomb and found open space and Addo-Carr on his outside.
The Bulldogs' first try was also down their powerful left edge when Burton swung the ball that way and Viliame Kikau offloaded back inside to Hayze Perham.
Kikau ended the match on report for a crusher tackle on Naden.
The win lifted the Bulldogs to their best start to a season since 2017 with two wins from their first three matches.
AAP/ABC
