Still without a win after the first four games, Raiders travelled to London to play Barnes, confident that their first victory could be about to happen against the side in third place in the league.
Raiders made five changes to the side that played the previous week against top of the table Tonbridge Juddians. Stan Vincent, Will Beer, Will Gearing-Grief and Sam Myles returned to the squad after unavailability and Elliott Powell was making his debut. Unfortunately, for Raiders a stomach bug struck the squad after training on Thursday evening and although none of the players were forced to withdraw, the effect was evident in the latter stages of the game.
On a warm, sunny afternoon Barnes kicked off and were quickly on the attack and with little more than a minute played they scored a converted try to take the lead 7-0. The visitors then conceded three quick penalties and the home side capitalised with a second try, this time unconverted. With only eight minutes played they now led by 12-0.
Raiders hit back within a couple of minutes with a converted try. A defence splitting grubber kick rolled invitingly into the in-goal area and Bruno Perry was first on the scene to touch it down. Charlie Spencer converted to close the gap to 12-7 after ten minutes.
The visitors were gaining confidence and putting pressure more consistently on the Barnes defence. This caused the hosts to give away several penalties in quick succession giving Raiders good field position. However, during the next ten minutes basic errors at critical moments prevented them from adding to their score. With twenty-four minutes played Ollie Crow received a yellow card for a high tackle. This was a little unfortunate as in the build-up play Barnes had clearly knocked the ball on in the tackle, which probably should have been a penalty to Raiders. To rub salt in the wound, Barnes went down the other end and scored an unconverted try to extend their lead to 17-7.
Good work from Harrison Dakin resulted in a fifty-metre territorial gain for Raiders, ending with a lineout to the visitors five metres from the Barnes’ try line. From the catch and drive that followed the hosts gave away a penalty, Ollie Streeter took the tap and the forwards set up a couple of phases close to the line until eventually Harrison Dakin touched down. Charlie Spencer converted and the game was back in the balance at 17-14.
A long kick out of defence by Tom Meyer was touched by a Barnes’ player before going into touch so Raiders had a lineout in an excellent attacking position. The ball was moved from the lineout across the backs and a long, cut out pass reached Charlie Spencer wide on the right wing. With little room to work in he managed to avoid two defenders and dive in at the corner to record another try for the visitors. The kick from the touchline was just wide but now Raiders had taken the lead at 17-19.
During the final minutes of the half the visitors applied more pressure on the Barnes defence, which resulted in four penalties being awarded against them.
After the third of these the visitors set up a catch and drive which moved infield towards the posts. Jake Rutherford made a dart for the line off the base of the maul but as he was going over the line, he was tackled high and the referee awarded a penalty try. Raiders now had a nine-point lead at 17-26, plus they had earned a try bonus point before half time.
Half time score: Barnes 17 Worthing Raiders 26
Raiders restarted the game after the break and were quickly on the attack with a break by skipper Jack Forrest. The possible scoring pass unfortunately didn’t go to hand and sadly the half went downhill from then on.
The visitors had certainly lost their edge after the break. The stomach bug in the camp certainly had a part to play but there were far too many basic errors which prevented them from exerting prolonged periods of pressure on the Barnes’ defence. The coaches used all of the bench but not much was going right for them in this half. In fact, in the first fifteen minutes Raiders made five errors all resulting in penalties to the hosts. Two tries were scored in this period.
As the half wore on the visitors visibly seemed to lack the energy to be competitive and the hosts scored tries at regular intervals to end up 55-26 winners.
Full time score: Barnes 55 Worthing Raiders 26
Obviously a very disappointing result, although the first half showed that they can compete with the top sides and come out on top.
espite the defeat there were plenty of positives to come out of the game, for example leading at halftime with a try bonus point in the bag, Jack Forrest leading by example as skipper and an impressive debut by Elliott Powell.
Scorers:
Try: Bruno Perry, Harrison Dakin, Charlie Spencer, Penalty
Con: Charlie Spencer (2)
Team:
1. Fraser Bruce 2. Harrison Dakin 3. Ollie Streeter 4. Jack Lake 5. Dan Macadams 6. Ollie Crow 7. Rob Ure 8. Stan Vincent 9. Jake Rutherford 10. Tom Meyer 11. Will Beer 12. Bruno Perry 13. Harry Forrest 14. Charlie Spencer 15. Jack Forrest – Captain
Bench:
16. Jimmy Staples 17. Elliott Luke 18. Will Gearing-Grief 19. Elliott Powell 20. Sam Myles