Worthing Raiders see bright spots in defeat to Tonbridge Juddians
The first half of Tonbridge Juddians v Worthing Raiders looked like a game between the top two teams in the league, so good was the performance by Raiders. Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite maintain it in the second half and were beaten 45-17.
There were many positives to come out of the game which Raiders, despite being bottom of National two east, will carry forward to Saturday’s home game with second in the table Barnes.
This was Raiders’ first game since December 21 and a more difficult start to the year could not have been imagined than a trip to face the leaders.
Jimmy Staples, Charlie Spencer, Finlay Glass and Ray Jardine all returned to the squad and Saope Soto made his debut on the wing.
On a heavy pitch the hosts kicked off playing down the slope. Within a minute Raiders gave away a penalty in midfield, Tonbridge kicked towards the corner and from the lineout scored their first try for an early 5-0 lead.
During the next ten minutes Raiders had the better of possession and territory. Playing patient rugby, they went through the phases until they earned a penalty. The kick to touch gave them a lineout on the Juddians’ 22m line.
The ball went to Frank Taggart at the front of the line, Jimmy Staples carried the ball towards the try line and when he was tackled and the ruck formed, Ben Featherstone picked up and dived over to make it 5-5.
With 19 minutes played, Staples received a yellow card for an infringement at a ruck near the Raiders’ try line. The hosts elected to take a scrum and scored an unconverted try from it to take the lead at 10-5.
The visitors were under pressure while down to 14 players and although they defended well, the hosts eventually made the extra man count and scored a converted try to stretch their lead to 17-5.
Raiders were able to establish a good attacking position through good phase play. With the hosts’ defence preventing the penetration required to reach the try line with ball in hand, Tom Meyer put a neat chip kick over the advancing Juddians’ defence for Harrison Dakin to run on to and catch cleanly. With 20 metres to go to the try line he was able to outrun the defender to touch down. Dillon Worsley converted for 17-12 at the interval.
With a good first forty minutes behind them and with the advantage of the slope in the second half, the visitors’ confidence was high as they kicked off after the break.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they conceded a penalty in the first minute of the second half and the home side scored a converted try to extend their lead to 24-12.
Raiders fought back strongly and were next to score. An excellent break by Staples saw him make 40m before being tackled. From the breakdown the ball moved wide to Charlie Spencer on the left. After making a few metres he chipped ahead, then played a bit of football, before picking the ball up and scoring the visitors’ third try to reduce the deficit to 24-17.
Juddians were awarded a penalty at a scrum. This they kicked to touch inside the visitors’ 22. From here they conjured another converted try to widen the gap to 31-17.
Raiders were starting to make a few errors in their efforts to get back into the game. On more than one occasion they lost the lineout on their own throw when deep inside the Juddians’ 22m area. Despite this they pushed ahead, taking more risks.
Tonbridge also introduced fresh legs and produced another converted try to put a win out of reach for Raiders with ten minutes left – the score now 38-17.
The visitors did all they could to get a fourth try and earn a bonus point, and it appeared Sam Cook had touched down to achieve thisl. However, after consideration, the referee decided the ball had been held up over the line and awarded a goal line drop out to Juddians.
To rub salt into the wound, Juddians scored a final try after breaking up a Raiders attack with an interception.
Although Raiders built one more attack, they could not break down the hosts’ defence to get that vital bonus point.
Raiders: Fraser Bruce, Jimmy Staples, Ben Featherstone, Jack Lake, Elliott Powell, Harrison Dakin, Will Gearing-Grief, Frank Taggart, Jake Rutherford, Tom Meyer, Charlie Spencer, Tom Derrick, Jack Forrest, Saope Soko, Dillon Worsley. Replacements: Sam Cook, Fin Glass, Ray Jardine, Ollie Crow, Sam Myles.