Raiders returned to action after a rest weekend the previous Saturday, with an away fixture at Maidenhead. They were keen to continue the good form they had shown when winning against Farnham in their last match.
Dan Wallis Downham and Struan Robertson were both unavailable and Tom Meyer picked up an injury in the previous game and had not recovered in time to be selected. Luke Gill and Ollie Crow returned to the starting lineup. Dave Barber and Austin Steele were selected on the bench. Will Beer was making his fiftieth league appearance for Raiders.
This was the first game of the season that raiders had played on an artificial pitch, love them or hate them they certainly alter the way a game is played.
Maidenhead kicked off and the first few minutes of the game saw a lot of kicking before the sides settled down to play running rugby. In these early stages Raiders were creating good attacking situations but not converting them into any points.
The hosts eventually opened the scoring, when the referee allowed play to continue with Joel Andrews laying injured with both teams’ medical staff attending to him. After the try was awarded and the conversion missed, the injured player was carried off the field and Dave Barber replaced him, 5-0.
The visitors scored their first try a few minutes later. Following a lineout, skipper Elliott Luke made ground towards the goal line, the ball then went to Regin Pratt who, in typical fashion, bulldozed his way through several attempted tackles before touching down under the posts. Tom Sanderson converted to give Raiders the lead at 5-7.
Sadly, the visitors’ lead only lasted a minute as Maidenhead hit back with a converted try. The unpredictable bounce of the ball on the artificial surface changing a promising attack for the visitors into seven points for the hosts, 12-7. Raiders were playing well in patches but were guilty of making handling errors at vital moments.
Maidenhead scored another unconverted try to stretch their lead to 19-7. The visitors came straight back with a well-worked try of their own. After the forwards had several charges towards the goal line, the ball was flashed along the backs to Will Beer on the left wing, who dived in at the corner to score. Tom Sanderson missed the conversion from the touch line. Thirty minutes played and there was one score between the teams, 19-12.
It only took a minute or two before the hosts scored another unconverted try, closely followed by a penalty and suddenly the gap between the teams had extended to fifteen points at 27-12. The game looked to be slipping away from Raiders as the players went into the half time break. In fairness Raiders had had a mediocre forty minutes interspersed with a few sparkling pieces of play. Overall, a little lack lustre.
Half time score: Maidenhead 27 Worthing Raiders 12
The visitors restarted the game and were immediately on the attack. A half break and offload by Luke Gill to Alex Havers saw him crash through the defence to open the scoring for the second half within the first minute. Tom Sanderson converted to close the gap to 27-19.
Max Ravaudet replaced Sam Cook in the front row after fourteen minutes. The hosts conceded a penalty thirty metres from their try line, JD Leali’ifano put the ball into touch for a Raiders’ line out on the five-metre line. A catch and drive followed, and Matt Bosworth touched down for an unconverted try, 27-24. The visitors had brought themselves right back into the contest with over twenty minutes left to play.
Concentration really needs to be at a high level in the moments after scoring. Securing the ball from the restart is an absolute must. However, a great chase by Maidenhead saw them catch the restart kick, allowing them to go on and score a converted try to stretch their lead to ten points, at 34-24.
Sam Cook returned to the front row and Elliott Luke took a rest on the bench. With twenty-five minutes played the visitors had built up a real head of steam, with the forwards pounding away at the defence only a few metres from the try line. Eventually, patience was rewarded and Sam Cook dived over the line to score with Tom Sanderson adding the extras. The score was back to a three-point difference at 34-31.
At this critical point in the game, it was the hosts who got the next converted try after a bit of slack defence from Raiders, 41-31. JD Leali’ifano was injured in the build up to this try and had to be carried from the field.
With ten minutes left and a ten-point deficit Raiders set about trying to close the gap. The play was all now in Maidenhead’s territory, and the visitors had most of the possession. After the home side conceded a penalty, Raiders elected to have a scrum thirty metres out. The scrum collapsed and Maidenhead were penalised again. Austin Steele took a quick tap, drew the defence and put Alex Havers in for his second try of the game. Tom Sanderson added the extras to close the gap to 41-38.
With several minutes left to play it was all Raiders but when the final whistle blew they had not been able to get that vital score that would have given them the win.
Full time score: Maidenhead 41 Worthing Raiders 38
Despite the high score this wasn’t a great spectacle. The first half had not been up to the standard expected by Raiders but the second half was a great improvement, and they were extremely unlucky not to achieve the win. A great fight back, but not quite enough in the end.
The result earned Raiders two points but how close they had been to taking the win and five points in the final moments.
Scorers:
Tries: T: Pratt, Beer, Bosworth, Cook, Havers (2)
Conversions: C: Sanderson (4)
Team: 1. Sam Cook 2. Elliott Luke (Captain) 3. Regin Pratt 4. Ollie Crow 5. Matt Bosworth 6. Jack Lake 7. Alex Havers 8. Luke Gill 9. Tom Sanderson 10. Josh Taylor 11. Will Beer 12. Joel Andrews 13. Christian Streater 14. Lewis Reed 15. JD Leali’ifano
Bench: 16. Max Ravaudet 17. Austin Steele 18. Dave Barber
