Reynolds looking forward to 'an exciting run in'
THEIR weekend could not have gone much better and now Raiders are aiming for six of the best to stay on top when it matters most.
Guernsey’s 31-3 win over Sevenoaks at a very wet and windy Footes Lane on Saturday was just the latest instalment of their London & South-East Premier promotion push and it took them back into pole position with Rochford Hundred unable to score the four tries required for a bonus point in their 21-12 win at London Irish Wild Geese.
Raiders capitalised with their five-try display to swap places with Rochford on points difference.
‘We made a deal for the last 10 games of the season,’ said Guernsey coach Jordan Reynolds.
‘We wanted to go 10 games with bonus points in every game and we wanted to go top, so at the moment we have got six to go, we’ve banged four out with bonus points which is good, and we’ve now got this last run to go.
‘It’s going to be tough, though. It’s going to be tight between us, Rochford and Wimbledon… Wimbledon have got to come here, so that’s going to be really tough.
‘If you look at it, Rochford have probably got the easier run in, but why have it easy? They slipped up today [Saturday] and who’d have ever thought slipping up means you don’t get a bonus point? Slipping up used to be losing a game, now it’s all down to who doesn’t get a bonus point.
‘It’s going to be an exciting run in.’
A self-professed perfectionist, Reynolds was as happy as he could be with his side’s performance in testing conditions against their sixth-placed opponents on Saturday when they led 7-3 at half-time thanks to Layton Batiste’s converted try and then sealed the bonus-point victory with another try from their big prop and touchdowns from Joe Andresen, Tom Ceillam and Anthony Armstrong after the break.
‘I think we did the right thing going into the wind at the start. We wanted to play a high tempo game in that half and we knew if we could get on top and go in with a lead, we were sitting a little more comfortable,’ Reynolds said.
‘At half-time we mentioned to the boys that there was a little bit more incentive that if we got the bonus point we go top and we had a really good second half. We probably left three or four out there but those conditions were poor.
‘We are really lucky we have a beautiful pitch, it held up really well and allowed the teams to play rugby.’
He admitted that the lengthy wait of more than 20 minutes between the third and fourth tries became a nervous one, but it was ended in perfect fashion with a catch-and-drive maul that involved the vast majority of the side.
‘That catch-and-drive to get the fourth was something beautiful for an old rugby tragic. It was really amazing to see that,’ said Reynolds.
More in Tuesday's Guernsey Press.
