We don't want winning run to stop - Coulson

Raiders assistant coach Coulson saw his team edge to a 36-34 win at Clifton courtesy of a late try from Kemp Price.

It was a second victory in succession for Worthing, who returned to action after a week’s break, by overcoming Clifton in a tense battle.

Raiders assistant Coulson now believes confidence throughout the squad is at a great level and said: “Winning is habitual, when you get on a roll you don’t want to stop. Winning makes life a little easier, 50/50’s seem to go your way, the bounce of the ball is kinder, the crowd get behind you, mistakes seem to be less impactful, which seemingly leads to everyone smiling more.

“In the land of reason we know most things level out through a season but it’s always good to ride the wave when you’re on it. Confidence breeds confidence.

“We want to score four tries each week, to get the four try bonus-point, if we do that we’ll be in with a chance in more games than not.”

Raiders ran in five tries, meaning they collected the full five points following victory at Clifton.

That was the seventh time in 11 league matches so far this term Worthing have scored four or more tries in a match, an improvement Coulson has been impressed by.

He added: “The result was incredibly gratifying. Five points away from home at any time is pleasing, to win in the manner we ultimately did was testament to the distance this group has and continues to travel. The rest period was always going to be a double-edged sword, there’d be a trade off between the positive of rest and recovery against the loss of focus and rhythm.

“In the short term, I think it’s fair to say it took a while to get into our stride and that was reflected in some of our play on Saturday. In the slightly longer term, a week to rest bodies and minds was invaluable, players will be that little bit fresher and able to give just that little bit more each week moving towards Christmas.”

Raiders remained ninth in the table despite victory but are only five points adrift of Henley Hawks and a top-half place. With four games to go between now and the new year, Raiders coach Coulson wants the current fine form to be continued and said: “We want to pick up points in all of the remaining games before Christmas, this would not define our progress but would be a barometer. There are three games to the halfway point and it is important the momentum is maintained.

“Jody (Levett; Raiders head coach) set out this five game run as a mini-season following which we can reflect.”

Raiders host Old Redcliffians on Saturday.