Raiders remain six points clear at the top
RAIDERS scored eight tries as they kept their title bid on course with an impressive 51-29 win away at Westcliff on Saturday.
Despite gifting their hosts an early try, Guernsey turned on the style in the first half with Sam Whitehead going over for their opening score before Nick Merrien touched down to put them ahead for the first time.
A Malcolm Barnes break resulted in Luke Sayer sauntering over, then Owen Thomas cut through the Westcliff defence to add the bonus-point try before Barnes himself powered over to make it 29-5.
The home side finished the half strongly, though, and after scoring their second try, Thomas received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle and while Guernsey were down to 14, Westcliff scored again to make it 29-15 at half-time.
Still having the man advantage, Westcliff brought the scores level early in the second half with two excellent tries.
Once back up to a full complement, Raiders began to take control once more with a penalty try followed by a Whitehead penalty giving them a 10-point lead before further tries from Layton Batiste and Luke Jones completed the win which maintains their six-point lead at the top of London & South-East Premier.
