Thomas knee fears allayed

There was big worry among the Guernsey camp when the Welshman was carried off towards the end of the side’s 11th straight win at Westcliff.

Head coach Jordan Reynolds was among those wearing a furrowed brow, but the news seems better a couple of days on.

‘We don’t think it is as bad as it looked, or we are hoping it is not as bad.

‘He is walking around on it and it could be a mild strain on the medial ligament and if it is it will probably mean just two or three weeks off,’ said Reynolds.

‘If it was really bad he probably would not be able to walk on it and he said this morning that it was not as bad as he feared, it was probably just the shock. He already had a weak part of his knee from the previous game and that wasn’t a strain, it was on top of the muscle.’

Other than the Thomas scare, it was another good day on the road for Raiders at Westcliff, who previously had been something of a bogey for his side in the UK.

Not this time, as Raiders ran in another eight tries to take their points tally to the season to a whopping 840.

‘It was good, although in patches, to be fair,’ Reynolds added.

‘After we gave them the early try we played some fantastic rugby and it was like against Sidcup, but only Westcliff are a better side.

‘We probably took our eye off the ball as they crept back in and we didn’t come out of the blocks in the second half, but we regrouped and for the first 30-odd minutes and the last 20 we were excellent.’

Raiders now have a week off before a home match against Guildford on Saturday 3 March.