Wimbledon 37 Worthing Raiders 24
Saturday 17th October 2026
Match report and photos by Colin Coulson
After being on the wrong end of a very close encounter the previous week with London Scottish Lions, Raiders travelled to Wimbledon for round four of the campaign, looking to secure a much-needed win.
With only three games played so far this season the Raiders’ injury list has risen to a dozen players. Added to the list from last Saturday’s game was Struan Robertson and Joel Andrews. In selecting the squad for this match, the coaches made four changes due to other unavailabilities in the squad. Returning to the squad this week were Jackson Clark, Fletcher Rose, Tom Meyer and Teddy Henry was making his debut on the wing.
Raiders kicked off playing into a strong breeze and were quickly on the attack. The forwards took control in the early minutes and were rewarded with a try by Leo Ravaudet. With the conversion missed the visitors had a 0-5 lead.
Wimbledon soaked up plenty of pressure from the visitors and then hit back with an unconverted try of their own to level the score after fourteen minutes, 5-5.
There was no further score until the twenty-fourth minute when, making use of the strong breeze Wimbledon kicked a forty-five-metre penalty to take the lead at 8-5.
The visitors put Wimbledon under pressure through the work of the forwards at scrums and lineouts but were unable to turn possession into points.
The home side kicked another lengthy penalty in the thirty-fifth minute to extend their lead to 11-5. A couple of minutes later they had the chance to extend their lead further with another shot at the posts, but this attempt flew narrowly wide.
Good approach play by Raiders was foiled by them more than once by solid defence from Wimbledon.
Wimbledon were very good on the counterattack, with strong runs from their backs making big gains in territory. Raiders scrambling defence managed to prevent any further scores until the last play of the half, when the home side notched up a converted try to open up a worrying gap at 18-5.
Raiders had been guilty of kicking inaccurately during the first half, which allowed Wimbledon to counterattack effectively from deep.
Half time score: Wimbledon 18 Worthing Raiders 5
The visitors brought Fletcher Rose and Jackson Clark on to replace Luke Gill and Tom Adams respectively at the start of the second half.
Raiders needed to make a good start to the second half but it was not to be.
Wimbledon restarted the game after the break and within a minute they extended their lead to 25-5 with a converted try.
For the next ten minutes the Raiders’ forwards were in total control, winning a penalty at the scrum on Wimbledon’s put in, a driving maul that took the hosts twenty metres back towards their try line and eventually, from a lineout, setting up a catch and drive which resulted in a try for skipper, Elliott Luke. Ed Hartley added the extra to narrow the gap to 25-12.
Although the visitors looked capable of getting back into this game, lapses in defence and errors in attack allowed Wimbledon to score an unconverted try after fourteen minutes of the half. The lead now opened up to 30-12.
The visitors continued to make the best use of their forward power and Fletcher Rose touched down after several minutes of pressure deep in Wimbledon’s twenty-two. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the lead was reduced to thirteen points at 30-17 and still a quarter of the game left to play.
Raiders emptied the bench in an effort to turn the deficit around.
Unfortunately, when it looked like they were getting the upper hand the hosts picked up another converted try to extend their lead to twenty points at 37-17.
With only five minutes left, the challenge for Raiders was to score a bonus point try, as the chance of victory was gone.
Two minutes from time the forwards again came up with a try from close quarters, this time from Luke Gill. Ed Hartley converted. With the score at 37-24 time ran out for any further comeback when the referee brought the game to a close.
Full-time score: Wimbledon 37 Worthing Raiders 24
A very disappointing result for Raiders, especially as they had enough possession and territory to earn the victory. Although a third defeat, Raiders still fought to the end and picked up a valuable bonus point.
Team:
Impact Players:
Scorers:
T: L. Ravaudet, Luke, Rose, Gill
C: Hartley (2)
