Agony for Worthing Raiders as Esher take 30-29 win

Worthing Raiders lost 30-29 to Esher in the latest in a season-long series of thrilling National two south clashes at Roundstone Lane.
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It was a pulsating game that entertained the big crowd from start to finish. See Stephen Goodger's gallery of pictures from the game here.

The top three sides have now all played 24 games and the top of the table sees Raiders in third place, still level on points with Redruth and three points behind new leaders Esher. Still all to play for over the coming weeks. Many thanks went to the fantastic support from the Roundstone Lane Crowd, it was outstanding.

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This should have been the pre-Christmas match but it had been postponed until now. The match promised to be of great significance in the title race with both teams level on 92 points, only two points behind Redruth in first place and both with a game in hand over the leaders.

Worthing Raiders attack in their clash with Esher / Picture: Stephen GoodgerWorthing Raiders attack in their clash with Esher / Picture: Stephen Goodger
Worthing Raiders attack in their clash with Esher / Picture: Stephen Goodger

The squad selected for this encounter saw only one change from the side that performed so well against Henley the previous week. Ken Dowding returning to replace Fraser Bruce who was unavailable. Dan Sargent was making his 150th National League appearance for Raiders. As expected, a large crowd of 735 had turned up to support the two teams.

Raiders kicked off attacking the southern end of the ground on a perfect afternoon for open, running rugby. The pace of the game was fast and the tackles fierce in the early exchanges. After five minutes raiders blunted an Esher attack and turned the ball over at the tackle. Quick movement of the ball saw it arrive in the hands of Curtis Barnes who sped away to score the first try of the afternoon wide on the left. Matt McLean added the extras to give the home side an early 7-0 lead.

With nine minutes played Liam Perkins received a yellow card and the home side were down to fourteen men. This looked as if it could be a serious problem for them but instead, they managed to play themselves into a good attacking situation with a fine touch kick from Josh Tusler that gave them a lineout five metres from Esher’s try line. From the lineout the forwards drove towards the line until Will Scholes picked up and dived over to score the try. The kick was successful and the lead extended to 14-0.

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The home side could rightly be happy with the start they had made but against quality opposition like Esher there was no room for complacency. Over the next ten minutes both sides looked dangerous with ball in hand but equally the defences were able to cope comfortably and so there was a lot of good play but limited progress for either side.

Esher opened their account after twenty-five minutes with an unconverted try and five minutes later added a converted try to bring the score to 14-12 and the close contest that had been expected was clearly going to go all the way to final whistle. The visitors were having a good spell and kept the home side pinned in their own territory for several minutes but the Raiders’ defence was solid and prevented any further score from them.

As the half drew towards its close it was Raiders that had the last chance to score when after another Curtis Barnes run down the wing Kieran Leeming put a neat grubber kick towards the corner that just trickled into touch a metre from the line before the chasers could get to it. At this point the referee brought the half to a close. Half time: Worthing Raiders 14 Esher 12

Rhys Litterick replaced Ken Dowding in the front row at the break. Esher restarted the game with Raiders now attacking the northern end of the ground. The visitors opened the scoring in the second period after the home side were penalised twenty-five metres from their try line, presenting Esher with a simple kick at the posts to take the lead for the first time in the match at 14-15.

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It only took a few minutes for the home side to notch up their third try and retake the lead. Elliott Luke made a run up the blind side following a ruck. From the resulting tackle situation, the ball was moved across the field through the hands of the backs before Jack Forrest made a half break wide on the right and then neatly off-loaded to Matt McLean who sprinted thirty metres to touch down in the corner. The conversion narrowly missed and the score was now 19-15.

In the period that followed both sides used the boot to try and make ground or to look for errors under the high ball. After ten minutes Esher were awarded a penalty at a ruck which they chose to kick to the corner. From the resulting lineout they drove the remaining few metres to the line to score their third try. With the conversion added they retook the lead at 19-22.

At this point Cam Dobinson replaced Rhys Morgan at scrum half and Kemp Price replaced Will Scholes in the pack. For a few minutes the game became a little scrappy with both sides fumbling the ball and giving pressurised passes to colleagues. Nerves seemed to be getting to the players as well as the supporters.

The game soon settled down again and both sides looked capable of scoring. When a penalty was awarded to the home side in midfield, they kicked to touch inside the Esher twenty-two metre area. Liam Perkins caught it cleanly and the maul was set. Once the maul lost impetuous the ball was moved across the field and from the next breakdown Cam Dobinson made a break up the blindside before feeding the ball to Elliott Quinton who evaded a couple of attempted tackles to score close to the posts enabling Matt McLean to add the extras and put raiders back in the lead at 26-22.

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Nathan Jibulu replaced Frank Taggart in the back row with sixteen minutes left to play. The pace of the game remained high and the quality of the rugby produced was worthy of this battle at the top of the league table. Esher had several good attacking situations but the Raiders defence was resolute and able to prevent them from scoring.

With only ten minutes to play Elliott Luke received a yellow card, which seemed a harsh decision as the ball appeared to hit him on the head. This incident gave the visitors a penalty in front of the posts which they kicked to close the gap to 26-25. Ken Dowding and Tom Gwyther replaced Dan Sargent and Kieran Leeming respectively at this point.

With three minutes left to play Curtis Barnes made a run down the right wing, with several defenders in front of him and little space to work in, he kicked ahead. The chasing players caught the defender who fumbled the pick up, a ruck formed and the home side were awarded a penalty for an offence by the visitors. Matt McLean calmly slotted the penalty from thirty metres out and the lead was extended to 29-25.

With one minute left on the clock, it looked like Raiders would hold on for the win but despite their best efforts in defence Esher managed to create a final chance which they took and clinched the match with a last play try in the corner. The conversion was missed and the visitors had won the game.

Proto Food Group Man of the Match: Elliott Quinton

Referee: Iain Kiy

Attendance: 735

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Scorers: Tries: Barnes, Scholes, McLean, Quinton; Cons: McLean x 3 + Pen

Team: Dan Sargent 2. Elliott Luke 3. Ken Dowding 4. Will Scholes 5. Jack Lake 6. Liam Perkins 7. Elliott Quinton 8. Frank Taggart 9. Rhys Morgan 10. Josh Tusler 11. Curtis Barnes 12. Harrison Sims 13. Jack Forrest 14. Matt McLean 15. Kieran Leeming. Bench: 16. Nathan Jibulu 17. Rhys Litterick 18. Kemp Price 19. Cam Dobinson 20. Tom Gwyther