Raiders reverse losing run at Canterbury

WORTHING Raiders Rugby Club moved out of the National League 2 South’s bottom three following a much-needed success at Canterbury on Saturday.
Owain Davies goes over for Worthing in their success at Canterbury on SaturdayOwain Davies goes over for Worthing in their success at Canterbury on Saturday
Owain Davies goes over for Worthing in their success at Canterbury on Saturday

Raiders, who went into the clash on the back of two straight defeats, produced a positive display at their fourth-from-bottom opponents.

Kieron Dawson’s men did drop into the relegation zone after last week’s 31-24 home reverse at the hands of high-flying Old Albanians. However, Saturday’s success ensured they moved up to 12th in the table.

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Canterbury were on the attack in the opening exchanges and went ahead.

Constant pressure on the Raiders line eventually paid off with Harry Sayers going over. The consequent conversion struck a post as Canterbury led 5-0.

This proved to be a wake- up call for Worthing and they were quickly back on terms.

Ben Loosmore broke two tackles before finding Matt McLean and he made it five a-piece. McLean skewed the extras wide so the scores remained level.

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The game settled down for a brief period before Raiders went ahead for the first time on 24 minutes.

Owain Davies received the ball after some slick work at the back and he evaded Canterbury’s attempted tackles to run in Worthing’s second try.

This time around, McLean made no mistake with the conversion to ensure Raiders opened up a 12-5 advantage.

Dan Sargent was shown a yellow card for Worthing but the home side failed to make the most of their extra man as Worthing led 12-5 at the interval.

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It didn’t take long for Canterbury to level the scores once again.

Royce Cadman scored a superb solo try on 44 minutes, before Oliver Best converted to make it 12-12.

Best then fired the home side ahead again with a penalty six minutes later.

In a topsy turvy tussle, Sargent went over soon after and McLean converted as Worthing went back in front.

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But with 18 minutes to go William Farris got his side’s third try to make it 20-19.

However, with time running out, Loosmore got a fourth and bonus point try, before McLean kicked over a late penalty as Raiders ran out 27-20 victors.

RAIDERS: Storer; Luke, Sargent, Barlow, Arthur, Richardson, Whittall; Perkins, Leeming, O’Hagan, McLean, Greenwood, Loosmore, Aspland-Robinson, Davies. Subs: Watson-Brooks, Smith, Montgomery, Margetson, White.

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