After two difficult games on the road, Raiders were pleased to be back on home turf at Roundstone Lane to play Farnham this week.
This was expected to be another tough match with Farnham starting the season well and sitting in fifth place, whilst Raiders are five points behind them in eighth place.
With Ollie Crow and Luke Gill unavailable and Ben Heber still sidelined through injury, Raiders selected Matt Bosworth and Lewis Reed, who were both making their debut. Will Beer and Max Ravaudet were also returning to the squad. Conditions were good for an open game of rugby and it turned out to be just that.
The hosts kicked off, attacking the northern end of the ground, however they didn’t make the most auspicious start. In the first fourteen minutes they gave away five penalties and found it impossible to get into the game as an attacking force. With possession and territory in their favour it was the visitors that opened the scoring with a converted try in the seventeenth minute, 0-7.
Raiders began to settle into the game as they claimed more of the possession.
On twenty-one minutes the home side disrupted the Farnham lineout and then won the ball on the floor. From the ruck that ensued they spun the ball across the backs putting right wing Adam McLean in space. He needed no second invitation to speed off down the wing and touch down in the corner. Tom Sanderson’s conversion into a strong breeze fell short but at 5-7 Raiders were back in the game. Unfortunately, Adam McLean was injured scoring the try and had to leave the field. Lewis Reed took his place on the right wing.
In the final ten minutes of the first half Farnham were guilty of giving away five penalties. This allowed the Raiders to gain territory through good touch kicking from JD Leali’ifano and this put more pressure on the visitors’ defence.
From one of these penalties Raiders gained clean ball from the resulting lineout and the backs moved the ball accurately and at pace towards the opposite side of the pitch. Lewis Reed received the final pass on the right-hand touch line and brushed aside the attempted tacklers as he sprinted twenty-five metres to score under the scoreboard. Despite the wind, Tom Sanderson converted to give the home side a 12-7 lead.
As the half was drawing to its close Raiders earned another penalty at a Farnham put in at a scrum. JD Leali’ifano put the touch finder deep into Farnham’s twenty-two metre area. From the line out the ball moved towards the centre of the field and Josh Taylor had a dart at the line from ten metres out, he avoided a couple of tackles and dived over the line with two defenders hanging on to him. Unfortunately for the home side he was deemed to be held up and no try was awarded.
The final play of the half saw the Raiders’ forwards have a go from short range; another try looked on the cards but somehow the Farnham defence disrupted possession at a ruck and the referee’s whistle brought the half to its conclusion.
Half time score: Worthing Raiders 12 Farnham 7
With Raiders attacking the southern end of the ground in the second period, the visitors kicked off. Will Beer caught the ball inside the twenty-two and set off up the left wing to instigate the first attack of the half.
The Farnham forwards were a lot heavier than those of the home team and it had been a concern that they might cause problems at the set scrums, however just the opposite occurred as the Raiders set scrum became more dominant as the game progressed. They won controlled ball on their own put in and put immense pressure on the Farnham put in, earning penalties on more than one occasion.
The hosts only had a five-point lead still, but they were playing with increasing confidence and dominance in most facets of the game.
Eleven minutes into the half Farnham conceded a penalty on their feed at a scrum. Raiders put the kick into touch and from the line out another attack was built. Skipper Elliott Luke made a tackle busting run at the defence but stopped short of the line, from the ruck Struan Robertson picked up and dived over the line under the posts. Tom Sanderson converted giving the hosts a bit of breathing space at 19-7.
Raiders then gave away two quick penalties allowing Farnham to score a converted try from a line out close to the try line. Thus, the lead was reduced to 19-14.
Early in the half Tom Meyer replaced Josh Taylor at fly half and later Max Ravaudet took over at hooker in place of Elliott Luke.
The rest of the game saw the home side in control of proceedings. With plenty of quality possession they launched many attacks, forwards and backs linking to produce an expansive display of rugby.
Christian Streater scored the bonus point try after twenty-two minutes. Will Beer making the initial half break before off loading to Christian Streater, who broke through several attempted tackles before scoring under the posts. Again, Tom Sanderson converted to stretch the lead to 26-14.
Another period of expansive play ended with a bustling run from the centre Joel Andrews who was held up over the line resulting in a goal line drop out. The visitors tried to get back in the game but the hosts’ defence in all areas of the pitch made it very difficult for them to build any real pressure.
Raiders scored their final try with six minutes left in the game. After the forwards had pounded the defence close to the try line, the ball was moved away to Tom Meyer in the out-half position, he threw a neat dummy and went in next to the posts. Tom Sanderson added the extras to make the score 33-14.
Raiders maintained the pressure on Farnham through to the final whistle, but no further points were added.
Full time score: Worthing Raiders 33 Farnham 14
Possibly the best, most complete performance of the season so far. The glimpses of promise seen in recent weeks eventually coming to fruition. The first quarter of this game was very evenly contested with Farnham showing they had the ability to break down defences and score points. On the day Raiders closed the visitors game down and managed to gain the upper hand.
With every member of the squad playing their part in an exhilarating performance there was much for the coaches to be pleased about, but no room for complacency as there is still much to improve on.
Matt Bosworth earned the Man of the Match for his contribution on his debut.
Referee: Ben Stewart
Scorers:
Tries: McLean, Reed, Robertson, Streater, Meyer
Conversions: Sanderson (4)
Team: 1. Sam Cook 2. Elliott Luke – Captain 3. Regin Pratt 4. Matt Bosworth 5. Struan Robertson 6. Jack Lake 7. Alex Havers 8. Dan Wallis Downham 9. Tom Sanderson10. Josh Taylor 11. Will Beer 12. Joel Andrews 13. Christian Streater 14. Adam McLean 15. JD Leali’ifano
Bench: 16. Max Ravaudet 17. Tom Meyer 18. Lewis Reed
