Worthing Raiders 'getting dragged into relegation battle'

The Raiders head coach believes every point left to fight for is crucial as they look to climb up the table.

Worthing were on the wrong end of a 22-19 scoreline at struggling London Irish Wild Geese in their latest outing.

That has left Raiders looking over their shoulder in tenth place.

After the latest round of matches, just four points separate 13th-placed Barnes and Worthing.

Despite the defeat against London Irish Wild Geese, Raiders still have a 15-point cushion over the third-from-bottom side.

But head coach Levett believes now is the time to turn around a poor run of form.

He said: “We are certainly getting dragged into a battle.

“There are only a handful of points separating a large portion of the league and every league point now matters. “

Levett counted the cost of Raiders failing to convert their chances in the defeat to London Irish Wild Geese.

First-half tries from Matt McLean, Harry Barlow and Harry Forrest had given Worthing a 19-7 half-time advantage.

However, the visitors failed to register a single point after the restart.

London Irish managed to ramp up a run of 15 unanswered second-half points to pip Raiders.

It was a performance that Levett was unimpressed by.

He said: “We should have put the game out of reach but once again we didn’t take our chances.

“Again a lack of accuracy and frustrating, but understandably, a lack of confidence meant we didn’t keep the ball for long enough periods of time.

“When we had the chances we failed to take them.”

“There were not many positives if we are honest.

“Unlike last week where we played well and came away with nothing, we went to London Irish Wild Geese to win and came up short. Although the point could be important, it was pretty disappointing.”

Things don’t get any easier for Raiders as they welcome fifth-placed Henley on Saturday.

Worthing will be doing all they can to arrest a run of fourth successive defeats.

But head coach Levett knows the size of challenge his team will face to record just a second victory in 2019.

“We have to go into the game with a positive mindset,” Levett said.

“It will be very difficult and we will need to perform at our best for the full 80 minutes if we are to get a result or take anything from the game.”

Have you read?

Watch Worthing Academy star score stunning solo goal - and earn high praise from manager Hinshelwood

Hinshelwood encouraged as Worthing edge five-goal thriller

Tyson Fury competition - your chance to spend an evening with undefeated heavyweight star