Raiders ease relegation fears with victory over Canterbury

With three games left of the season, the win takes Raiders eight points clear of third-from-bottom Dorking, who went down 33-24 at Taunton Titans but did collect the four-try bonus point.

The game got underway 20 minutes late after the visitors were held up in traffic on their way to the match and Raiders led 22-17 at half-time.

George Montgomery kicked over a penalty inside 90 seconds to give Worthing the lead and the hosts extended their lead on eight minutes. Dan Peach, Kieran Leeming and Rob Smith were all involved, before the ball found its way to Montgomery, who stretched over to touch down and then converted his own try to make it 10-0.

Worthing moved further ahead on 24 minutes when Jamie Ure won a line-out in Canterbury’s own 22 and Liam Perkins went over, with Montgomery again adding the extras.

Raiders lost Kiba Richards to the sinbin two minutes later and the visitors then touched down three times in just five minutes.

Daniel Smart went over in the corner and Martyn Beaumont twice sprinted through to touch down, with William Farris nailing two conversions, as Canterbury went 19-17 ahead.

While still down to 14 players, Raiders took the lead again on 36 minutes when a great passing move ended with Alex Nielsen going over in the corner. Montgomery’s conversion hit the post as Worthing led 22-19 at the break.

Canterbury lost Sam Rogers to the sinbin within 30 seconds of the restart and Raiders sealed the four-try bonus point within a minute. Richards burst through the visitors’ defence and then skipped past the last man to go over by the posts.

Montgomery’s conversion took Worthing 29-19 ahead, before Raiders survived a spell of pressure from the visitors for the following few minutes.

Canterbury’s Mason Rosvall got his side’s fourth try ten minutes from time but Raiders responded superbly and James Arthur went over from Dan Sargent’s pass three minutes later to make it 34-24.

Worthing then added a sixth try a minute from time when Sargent touched down after Raiders drove forward from a line-out. Montgomery added the extras to make the final score 41-24.

RAIDERS: Montgomery, Coxon-Smith, Loosmore, Richards, Nielsen, Leeming, Peach; Storer, Elliott, Sargent, Barlow, Ure, Smith, Hewick, Perkins. Subs: Luke, White, Gibson, Arthur, McLean.

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