Rugby gallery: 46 pictures as Worthing Raiders take on Henley Hawks - plus full report

At present Raiders seem unable to maintain the level of performance required to win games for long enough periods.

Thwy are brilliant in patches and have scored plenty of tries to show for it but too many penalties conceded, missed tackles and simple errors prevent them performing to their true potential. It’s frustrating for the players, coaches and the many loyal supporters.

See pictures on this page and those linked – by Stephen Goodger – from the Raiders-Henley match and get the Raiders reports from Colin Coulson in the Worthing Herald every week.

After a very close game away at Bury St Edmunds the previous week the hosts made three changes to the squad for the game with Henley. Bruno Perry and Sam Myles returned to the squad after missing a week and Finlay Glass made his first appearance of the season. Skipper Jack Forrest was playing his 151st game for Raiders and Fraser Bruce his 50th.

Games between these two sides always produce entertaining rugby. With Henley currently in ninth and Raiders in 12th position in the league, both sides had plenty to play for. Rain fell all morning and through the warm-up but gradually eased off as the game got under way. Henley kicked off and Raiders promptly gave away two penalties. The visitors took full advantage and scored a converted try from a catch and drive, 0-7 after four minutes.

Within a couple of minutes Henley conceded two penalties in quick succession and the hosts scored their first try, through hooker Harrison Dakin. With the conversion unsuccessful the score was 5-7. Two minutes later the visitors scored another converted try from a catch and drive to extend their lead to 5-14.

The hosts were guilty of giving away several penalties through this period of the game which enabled Henley to maintain territorial advantage. This they turned into another converted try after seventeen minutes, thus opening up a lead of 5-21. Penalties were being conceded by both sides and both were resulting in tries being scored.

It was the turn of the hosts to score next in the 26th minute. Dakin took a tap penalty on the Henley five metre line, the ball moved to Rob Ure who accelerated towards the line, brushing aside the attempted tackles to score. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed but the gap was closed to 10-21. The pattern of penalty, kick to touch, catch and drive continued in the 29th minute, resulting in an unconverted try for the visitors, 10-26. The hosts were guilty of missing first up tackles and Henley scored a fine individual try to extend the lead further, 10-31.

The pattern continued in the 37th minute when following a penalty, Raiders made touch on the Henley 22m line. From the lineout they set up another catch and drive which took the visitors back to their own five-metre line before Dakin broke off and dived over to score another unconverted try, 15-31. The final try of the half went to Henley and they converted it to take a 15-38 lead at the interval.

In truth, partly due to the conditions, neither side had been able to play with any real continuity. Most of the nine tries were from close quarters through the forwards. Despite the high scoring it was a pretty drab affair in terms of entertaining rugby. Raiders made several changes of personnel at half-time and in the early part of the second half. All the bench were involved by the time five minutes had been played.

To make matters worse for the hosts Harry Forrest received a yellow card and it wasn’t long before the visitors turned their numerical advantage into another converted try, 15-45. The half couldn’t have started any worse for Raiders, but heads didn’t go down and they showed good spirit as they fought back over the next 15 minutes. With 13 minutes of the half played Henley also received a yellow card.

Raiders were having trouble winning their own ball at scrum and lineout. This was very disappointing as both of these units had produced plenty of quality possession in the previous game. The visitors were building an attack in midfield when Frank Taggart intercepted a pass and raced 50m to touch down next to the posts. Dillon Worsley converted to close the gap to 22-45, securing a try bonus point for Raiders.

Midway through the half Henley extended their lead with an unconverted try, 22-50. During the final 15 minutes Raiders had much more possession and were able to keep plenty of pressure on the visitors deep in their own territory. Jake Rutherford made a good break down the right wing after receiving a cross kick from the visitors. When he reached halfway he was met with a high tackle and Henley received another yellow card.

The home side were able to string phases together and when skipper and MoM Jack Forrest saw no way through the visitors’ defensive line, he put a perfectly placed grubber kick towards the corner. Rutherford won the race, scooped the ball up and dived into score another unconverted try, 27-50. Henley responded with a try, 27-55. The hosts replied when Dakin completed his hat-trick. Dillon Worsley converted to make it 34-55 to end a second half more entertaining than the first.