This week Raiders welcomed old rivals Henley to Roundstone Lane.
After a very close game away at Bury St Edmunds the previous week the hosts made three changes to the squad for the game with Henley. Bruno Perry and Sam Myles returned to the squad after missing a week and Finlay Glass made his first appearance of the season. Skipper Jack Forrest was playing his 151st game for Raiders and Fraser Bruce his 50th.
Games between these two sides always produce entertaining rugby. With Henley currently in ninth and Raiders in twelfth position in the league, both sides had plenty to play for. Rain fell all morning and through the warm-up but gradually eased off as the game got underway. Henley kicked off and Raiders promptly gave away two penalties. The visitors took full advantage and scored a converted try from a catch and drive, 0-7 after four minutes.
Within a couple of minutes Henley conceded two penalties in quick succession and the hosts scored their first try of the afternoon, through hooker Harrison Dakin. With the conversion unsuccessful the score was 5-7. Two minutes later the visitors scored another converted try from a catch and drive to extend their lead to 5-14.
The hosts were guilty of giving away several penalties through this period of the game which enabled Henley to maintain territorial advantage. This they turned into another converted try after seventeen minutes, thus opening up a lead of 5-21. So far penalties were being conceded by both sides and both were resulting in tries being scored.
It was the turn of the hosts to score next in the twenty-sixth minute. Harrison Dakin took a tap penalty on the Henley five metre line, the ball moved to Rob Ure who accelerated towards the line, brushing aside the attempted tackles to score. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed but the gap was closed to 10-21. The pattern of penalty, kick to touch, catch and drive continued in the twenty-ninth minute, resulting in an unconverted try for the visitors, 10-26. The hosts were then guilty of missing first up tackles, and Henley scored a fine individual try to extend the lead further, 10-31.
The pattern continued in the thirty-seventh minute when following a penalty, Raiders made touch on the Henley twenty-two metre line. From the lineout they set up another catch and drive which took the visitors back to their own five-metre line before Harrison Dakin broke off and dived over to score another unconverted try, 15-31.
The final try of the half went to Henley and they converted it to take a 15-38 lead at the interval.
In truth, and partly due to the conditions, neither side had been able to play with any real continuity. Most of the nine tries were from close quarters through the forwards. Despite the high scoring it was a pretty drab affair in terms of entertaining rugby.
Half time score: Worthing Raiders 15 Henley Hawks 38
Raiders made several changes of personnel at half time and in the early part of the second half. All of the bench were involved by the time five minutes had been played. To make matters worse for the hosts Harry Forrest received a yellow card and it wasn’t long before the visitors turned their numerical advantage into another converted try, 15-45.
The half couldn’t have started any worse for Raiders, but heads didn’t go down and they showed good spirit as they fought back over the next fifteen minutes.
With thirteen minutes of the half played Henley also received a yellow card. Raiders were having trouble winning their own ball at scrum and lineout. This was very disappointing as both of these units had produced plenty of quality possession in the previous game.
The visitors were building an attack in midfield when Frank Taggart intercepted a pass and raced fifty metres to touch down next to the posts. Dillon Worsley converted to close the gap to 22-45, thus securing a try bonus point for Raiders.
Midway through the half Henley extended their lead with an unconverted try, 22-50. During the final fifteen minutes of the match Raiders had much more possession and were able to keep plenty of pressure on the visitors deep in their own territory. Jake Rutherford made a good break down the right wing after receiving a cross kick from the visitors. When he reached halfway he was met with a high tackle and Henley received another yellow card.
The home side were now able to string some phases together and when skipper, Jack Forrest saw no way through the visitors’ defensive line, he put a perfectly placed grubber kick towards the corner. Jake Rutherford won the race, scooped the ball up and dived into score another unconverted try, 27-50. Henley responded with an unconverted try of their own in the thirty-second minute, 27-55. The hosts replied moments later when Harrison Dakin completed his hat trick. Dillon Worsley converted to close the gap to 34-55.
There was no further score and the game drew to a close. The second half had certainly produced more entertaining rugby than the first.
Full time score: Worthing Raiders 34 Henley Hawks 55
A disappointing result after the improved performances in the two previous games. At present Raiders seem unable to maintain the level of performance required to win games, for long enough periods. Brilliant in patches and plenty of tries to show for it but too many penalties conceded, missed tackles and simple errors prevent them performing to their true potential. Frustrating for the players, coaches and the many loyal supporters.
Referee: Tom Bird
Attendance: 305
The Fox Inn Man of the Match: Jack Forrest
Scorers:
Tries: Ure, Dakin (3), Taggart, Rutherford
Conversions: Worsley (2)
Team:
1. Fraser Bruce 2. Harrison Dakin 3. Elliott Luke 4. Jack Lake 5. Dan Macadams 6. Ollie Crow 7. Rob Ure 8. Frank Taggart 9. Jake Rutherford 10. Tom Meyer 11. Will Beer 12. Jack Forrest – Captain 13. Harry Forrest 14. Max Boxall 15. Bruno Perry
Bench:
16. Fin Glass 17. Will Gearing-Grief 18. Elliott Powell 19. Sam Myles 20. Dillon Worsley
