Defeated Raiders forced to relinquish top spot
RAIDERS were knocked off London & South East Premier top spot away on Saturday as they fell to a 33-22 defeat at Guildford that sees them slip to fourth in the table.
The pattern was set early on as Raiders gave away a penalty for hands in the ruck and Guildford duly slotted home the kick for a 3-0 lead.
Guildford returned the favour by conceding a penalty on their 22 and Sam Whitehead stepped up to level.
A drop goal restored Guildford’s lead and it got worse when their centre drifted over for the first try of the day which went unconverted.
A Cameron Craine try brought Raiders back to within three but in the dying embers of the half Guildford celebrated a converted try for an 18-8 interval lead.
On the resumption, both teams struggled to make any headway but on 55min. Doug Horrocks sliced his way unopposed under the posts for a try converted by Whitehead.
But straight from the kick-off Raiders failed to control the ball from their own line out and Guildford’s pack drove over for a converted try.
More poor defending saw Guildford stretch their advantage to 30-15 and Anthony Armstrong’s converted try came too late to save the day.
