Worthing Raiders get another bonus point victory

This week’s opponent was Canterbury, a club we’ve played over twenty times in National League rugby. This was their eleventh visit to Roundstone Lane.

For once this season selection had been a little easier with players returning from injury plus the added bonus of three new signings being available. The squad had six changes from the previous week. There were National League debuts for Jonny Smith, Tom Bowen, Fergus Guiry and Zach Carr. Fraser Bruce and Iago Davies returned to the squad after injury and unavailability respectively.

The afternoon was dry and for the most part sunny and the pitch was made for a fast, open game.

Canterbury kicked off defending the southern end of the ground. The crowd of near five hundred were hoping for an open, exciting game and basically that is what they got.

A couple of early penalties against the visitors gave the home side a chance to dominate territory and possession and after nine minutes Raiders were rewarded when they opened their account with a converted try. From a lineout Frank Taggart drove the ball up the middle of the field, from the ruck that formed the ball was moved to the backs and Fergus Guiry stepped past the final defender to score under the posts. Harrison Sims converted and the home side had an early 7-0 lead.

Within a couple of minutes Canterbury were awarded a penalty within kicking distance and they took the opportunity to close the gap to 7-3.

During the next ten minutes Raiders exerted a great deal of pressure on the Canterbury defence, the result was that they conceded four penalties and eventually the home side scored their second try of the afternoon. This came initially from a catch and drive, from a lineout, followed by an expansive, fifteen-man attack across the field leading to another attacking lineout from which a well-organised catch and drive produced a try for Raiders’ hooker Elliott Luke. The conversion was missed but the home side now had a 12-3 lead after twenty-two minutes.

With twenty-three minutes played a break by Iago Davies ended with a very smart and accurate grubber kick which went beyond Canterbury’s defensive line. A certain try looked on offer as three Raiders went in pursuit of the kick only to see it bounce, as only a rugby ball can, up, over and out of reach of all of them with only a couple of metres to go to the try line.

A couple of minutes later Will Hoare received a yellow card.

Canterbury were having a good period of pressure deep in the home side’s twenty-two. Frank Taggart broke away from a ruck and kicked to touch near the halfway line. The players moved towards what looked like a lineout to the visitors, when the referee consulted with the touch judge and went back to award a try to the visitors. With the conversion missed the lead was reduced to 12-8.

With thirty-one minutes played Raiders were building another attack which was stretching the Canterbury defence. The handling from the backs and forwards was impressive. Eventually the ball moved through the hands of the backs and when it reached Harry Nelson instead of giving the scoring pass to Tom Bowen, he tried to go to the line himself. He was held up but when from the ruck the ball was passed to the unmarked winger a deliberate knock on prevented a certain try. The referee consulted with the touch judge and a penalty try was awarded plus a yellow card against the visitors. As it happened a better result than if Harry Nelson had given the original scoring pass out by the touchline. Raiders now had a 19-8 lead as the half time break approached. With a couple of minutes left in the half Raiders scored the bonus point try, when from a catch and drive Jonny Smith emerged like a bullet from the maul to launch himself over the try line. With no conversion the lead stretched to 24-8.

Raiders almost scored again in the final seconds of the half when Tom Bowen broke free from the defence but with the try line at his mercy the ball spilled from his hands and no further points were gained before the half time break.

Half time score: Worthing Raiders 24 Canterbury 8

Zach Carr, Fraser Bruce and Ben Waghorn replaced Will Hoare, Dan Sargent and Fergus Guiry respectively.

Raiders restarted the game after the interval, now attacking the northern end of the ground.

The home side were having much the better of possession and territory.

A good multi-phase attack close to the visitors’ try line was eventually rebuffed by good defence and a few minutes later Fraser Bruce had the ball dislodged from his grasp with the try line at his mercy.

As the half progressed Raiders were encamped deep in the Canterbury half and were constantly threatening the visitors’ defensive line.

With fifteen minutes of the half played a break by Tom Gwyther, followed by a loose off-load saw Elliott Luke scoop up the ball with great skill to score unopposed under the posts. Harrison Sims converted to stretch the lead to 31-8.

With twenty-nine minutes of the half gone, Canterbury scored an unconverted try, to close the score to 31-13.

The home side used their bench to best effect in order to maintain the pace of their attack. Charlie Spencer and Jackson Clark replaced Iago Davies and Ethan Clarke. Then Dan Sargent re-joined the game giving Elliott Luke a well-earned rest. Will Hoare replaced Skipper Liam Perkins with about twelve minutes to play.

Canterbury looked dangerous in broken field situations but at this point the home side’s defence was excellent.

Raiders returned to the Canterbury twenty-two metre area and after a well-constructed catch and drive Ethan Clarke touched down for the home side’s sixth try of the afternoon. Harrison Sims converted and extended the lead to 38-13.

In the last minutes of the match Canterbury came to life and scored an unconverted try to close the gap to 38-18. They continued to attack with pace and skill in an effort to get the bonus point try but the Raiders’ defence was resolute and the game concluded with the home side achieving victory.

Final score: Worthing Raiders 38 Canterbury 18

This was a convincing win for Raiders and could easily have been a much higher score but for some errors and bad luck in finishing. It was an entertaining match with both teams contributing to the excitement of the afternoon.

Another bonus point win puts Raiders in sixth position in the league and with a week off next Saturday they can regroup ready for the trip to Bury St Edmunds on 15th October.

There were many fine performances for the home supporters to cheer right across the squad but a special mention must be made for eighteen-year-old Jonny Smith whose outstanding performance earned him Man of the Match.

As always, the Roundstone Lane crowd gave the team great support throughout the game.

Referee: Katherine Ritchie

Attendance: 455

Scorers:

Tries: Guiry, Luke (2), Penalty, Smith, Clarke

Cons: Sims (4)

Team:

Ethan Clarke 2. Elliott Luke 3. Dan Sargent 4. Jack Lake 5. Will Hoare 6. Liam Perkins 7. Jonny Smith

8. Frank Taggart 9. Iago Davies 10. Tom Gwyther 11. Harry Nelson 12. Harrison Sims 13. Jack Forrest

14. Tom Bowen 15. Fergus Guiry

Bench:

16. Jackson Clark 17. Fraser Bruce 24. Zach Carr 20. Charlie Spencer 22. Ben Waghorn