After a very close game the previous week, Raiders travelled with confidence, to Suffolk to play old rivals Bury St Edmunds, who on the day were sitting in eighth position in the league.
Raiders made four changes to the squad that so nearly beat Old Albanian a week ago. Ollie Streeter and Max Boxall returned after injury and Ollie Crow and Harry Forrest both re-joined the squad after missing last week. The heavy rain that had fallen all morning relented shortly before kick-off and the game was played in bright sunshine throughout.
Raiders kicked off and were quickly into their work, building attacks through controlled phase play. The pressure they exerted on the home side’s defence earned them a penalty close to the try line. They took a tap and attacked through the forwards and after a couple of rucks Ollie Streeter crashed over in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the visitors had a 0-5 lead after eight minutes.
The visitors continued in the same fashion, moving the ball through the phases, maintaining continuity in play. Unfortunately for Raiders one dropped ball in a tackle in the middle of the field resulted in Bury kicking ahead and getting a converted try. This gave the hosts a 7-5 lead after eleven minutes. Bury St Edmunds scored next in the fifteenth minute with another converted try from a well-executed kick and chase, 14-5. The visitors continued to go through the phases developing good, attacking situations but as in previous games a combination of small errors and good defence prevented them from adding to their tally.
The first scrum of the game didn’t happen until after sixteen minutes had been played. It was the hosts who had the put in but it was obvious Raiders had the edge. The second scrum, also on the hosts’ put in saw the visitors earn a penalty as they put immense pressure on the Bury St Edmunds’ pack. From the penalty Raiders kicked for touch and nearly scored from the ensuing lineout.
The hosts soon got themselves deep into Raiders’ territory searching for a way through the defence. At this point the visitors’ defence held firm, and the attack was broken up. Dillon Worsley put boot to ball in broken play and chased deep into the hosts’ twenty-two metre area to make the tackle. As Bury St Edmunds tried to get out of defence, they knocked on resulting in a scrum to Raiders fifteen metres from their try line.
Continued pressure from the visitors earned them another penalty which was kicked into touch. From the lineout they drove the ball ten metres towards the line and Jimmy Staples touched down for an unconverted try to close the gap to 14-10 after twenty-seven minutes. With plenty of possession in good areas and a scrum which had the upper hand Raiders continued to create scoring chances. With thirty-nine minutes of the half played Jimmy Staples was yellow carded and the hosts elected to take a shot at the posts. The kick was successful, and the half came to a close.
This had been a good forty minutes for Raiders, one of their best this season and but for a couple of errors at critical moments the score could have been very different.
Half time score: Bury St Edmunds 17 Worthing Raiders 10
The visitors made a poor start to the second half conceding an unconverted try within a minute of the restart, 22-10. Raiders introduced Ollie Crow and Max Boxall in place of Dan Macadams and Tom Meyer after a further seven minutes. The game seemed to be going away from Raiders when the hosts scored another converted try after sixteen minutes, thus extending their lead to 29-10. From this point onwards the game changed as the visitors took control of possession and maintained constant pressure on the Bury St Edmunds’ defence.
Harrison Dakin was held up over the line, and later Frank Taggart thought he’d scored but the officials couldn’t see a clear grounding. So, two good chances but neither resulting in any points for the visitors.
Raiders’ persistence paid off in the twenty-second minute when Harrison Dakin touched down for an unconverted try to close the gap to 29-15.Rob Ure, Ollie Streeter and Jimmy Staples were replaced with the fresh legs of Elliott Powell, Elliott Luke and Will Gearing-Grief.
The play was now based in the hosts’ territory for extended periods and with about ten minutes left in the match Frank Taggart scored and Dillon Worsley converted and all of a sudden it was a seven-point game at 29-22.
The home side were clearly under pressure and rattled so when they were awarded a penalty in the thirty-fifth minute they took a shot at goal, which was successful thus extending their lead to more than one score, 32-22. Raiders ramped up their efforts for the final minutes. Bury St Edmunds, feeling the pressure conceded three penalties in quick succession, one resulting in a yellow card.
The visitors had time for one last effort and from a well-constructed catch and drive, Harrison Dakin touched down for his second try of the day and Dillon Worsley converted to close the gap to 32-29 .
Full time score: Bury St Edmunds 32 Worthing Raiders 29
This was an excellent performance from Raiders, although still not a win. They outscored their hosts five tries to four. Their scrum had been stronger, and they had maintained possession through many phases showing control and confidence. This was also the best performance in terms of discipline as they conceded very few penalties. However, they did leave at least two, maybe three tries out there due to simple errors when it mattered most. Many positives to take from the game for individuals and units. Great spirit and skill shown throughout the squad earning two bonus points.
Scorers:
Try: Ollie Streeter, Jimmy Staples, Harrison Dakin (2), Frank Taggart
Con: Dillon Worsley (2)
Team
1. Fraser Bruce 2. Jimmy Staples 3. Ollie Streeter 4. Jack Lake 5. Dan Macadams 6. Harrison Dakin 7. Rob Ure 8. Frank Taggart 9. Jake Rutherford 10. Tom Meyer 11. Harry Forrest 12. Jack Forrest – Captain 13. Kieran Tomlinson 14. Will Beer 15. Dillon Worsley
Bench
16. Elliott Luke 17. Elliott Powell 18. Will Gearing-Grief 19. Max Boxall 20. Ollie Crow
