Worthing Raiders 28 Old Alleynians 34
Saturday 26th September 2026
Match report by Colin Coulson
After a long pre-season, which was extended by two weeks due to the condition of pitches after the hot dry summer, Raiders eventually got the new campaign underway with a home fixture against Old Alleynians.
Recruitment during the off season saw around fifteen new players join the squad along with several others returning after finishing their university courses.
As always happens in the build up to the season, players pick up injuries and this time around Raiders begin the campaign with half a dozen players sidelined.
The squad selected for today’s game sees seven new signings taking to the field.
The visitors kicked off attacking the northern end of the ground and within a minute had a penalty shot at goal which flew wide. Old Alleynians had the better of possession and territory for quite some time in the first half, but Raiders defence was solid and was able to break down all of their attacks.
Both sides made errors and looked a little rusty which is only to be expected in the first match of the season. The visitors had three catch and drives from short range but on each occasion the Raiders defence repelled them and cleared the danger.
When Raiders were able to maintain possession, they were able to take the game to Old Alleynians and set up their own chances. Just like the visitors, when promising moves looked like they might produce points, errors and good defence thwarted them.
With the score still 0-0 after twenty-five minutes, Jack Lake received a yellow card, and the visitors took advantage when with their fourth catch and drive they managed to cross Raiders’ line to open the score. With the conversion missed they had a 0-5 lead after twenty-seven minutes.
During the final ten minutes of the half, Raiders got themselves back into the game with some more controlled rugby. Jack Lake returned to the game with four minutes left in the half.
With the clock almost on forty minutes and the visitors in possession of in the centre of the pitch, Raiders aggressive defence caused the visitors to fumble the ball as they were forced back towards their own line. Stanley Keats then made a break before off loading to Peter Welsh who crashed over to level the scores, Ed Hartley converted and as the teams went into the half time break, Raiders had taken the lead at 7-5.
Half-time score: Worthing Raiders 7 Old Alleynians 5
The game restarted with Raiders now attacking the northern end of the ground. Within a minute Fletcher Rose had to leave the field with an injury. Luke Gill replaced him in the back row.
With Old Alleynians on the attack, Raiders had a scrum on their own five metre line. They comfortably won the scrum but a misunderstanding between players saw the ball fall free over the goal line and the visitors pounced on it to score their second try which they converted to extend the lead to 7-12.
The visitors scored again after a further five minutes, converting the try to extend the lead to 7-19.
Raiders made changes, some tactical, some due to injury. Matt Bosworth and Jaiden King joined the game.
With fifteen minutes played, Raiders were deep in the visitors’ twenty-two, when they lost the ball at a ruck. As Old Alleynians tried to run out of defence they lost the ball in a tackle and Tom Adams was on hand to pick up and charge over the line to score his first ever try in first team rugby. Ed Hartley converted to close the score to 14-19.
When Raiders gave away a penalty in the 18th minute the visitors elected to kick the three points to extend their lead to 14-22.
During the next ten minutes the hosts conceded two more tries, the second of which was converted. This put them in a very strong position at 14-34 with only ten minutes left to play.
The home side showed great spirit in the last ten minutes of the game, scoring two more converted tries.
The first was tracked down by the scrum half Stanley Keats after the scrum had pushed the visitors back over their goal line and the second by Jaiden King on the left wing after some nice open play. Ed Hartley converted to to bring the score to 28-34.
With a couple of minutes left to play the hosts went all out to close the six-point gap but unfortunately ran out of time and the referee brought the game to a close.
Full-time score: Worthing Raiders 28 Old Alleynians 34
Not the result that was hoped for but a good fight back to earn two league points. Some basic errors with handling and tackling had cost dearly in the final outcome. Plenty of positives to take from the game, not least the strength of the forward play.
For the neutral in the three hundred strong crowd this was an entertaining game between two well matched sides.
Referee: Sam Peter
The Castle Man of the Match: Peter Welsh
Team:
Impact Players:
Scorers:
T: Welsh, Adams, Keats, King
C: Hartley (4)
