The Raiders led 18-4 at half-time but fell 34-24 as they slipped three points out of fifth place with six rounds remaining before the finals begin.

In a game where the was several contentious refereeing decisions against both sides, the biggest arguably came in the 78th minute with Macquarie trailing by four points and on the attack.

Winger Ash Widders was felled just short of the line, but then reached out and planted the ball over, with referee Daniel Thornton ruling a double movement.

"We hadn't had many calls go our way all day, so I wasn't expecting that one to," a frustrated Raiders coach Guy Meredith said after the match.

"It was a game of two halves. I thought we were nearly perfect in the first half and that showed when we led 18-4 but in the second half we just couldn't back it up.

"We gave them too many chances and you just can't do that against Wello. They make you pay.

"But I feel like we lost that game rather than them winning it."

Tries to Kurt Beahan, Tom Magann and Norm Button had Macquarie on top at half-time but from the moment Warren Peachey took an intercept and raced 80m to score in the 43rd minute the tide turned.

Two barnstorming tries to Lewis Stanley were capped off by a four-pointer to Kiyan Shaw and within 20 minutes Wellington had gone from a 14-point deficit to a 10-point lead.

Button's second try in the 71st minute gave Macquarie a chance, and the no-try decision didn't help their cause but a late try to Norm West sealed the result right on full-time for Wellington.

"The first half we were pretty ordinary, and full credit to Macquarie for that, but we spoke about our defence at half-time and that was what won it for us in the second half," Wellington captain-coach Justin Toomey-White said.

"We know we have points in us so that wasn't a worry, but we had to stop them from scoring and I thought we were really good after half-time.

"It's a big win for us. Macquarie had won two in a row going into today and they are always tough to beat, and it gives us a bit of space in the race for those spots in the finals."

The win, coupled with Forbes' narrow loss to Dubbo CYMS, has the Cowboys just a point out of third spot, which would seal two bites of the cherry come finals time.

WELLINGTON COWBOYS 34 (Lewis Stanley 2, Warren Peachey, Kiyan Shaw, Norm West, Justin Toomey-White tries; Joe Williams 5 goals) def DUBBO MACQUARIE 24 (Norm Button 2, Kurt Beahan, Tom Magann tries; Mason Williams 3, Claude Gordon goals)