Raiders improve in defeat
THE finest of fine margins went against Raiders as they ended 2021 with defeat in Kent on Saturday.
However, Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds was cheered by the vast improvement his side showed on their previous National Two South outing despite being on the wrong end of a 29-17 result against Canterbury.
‘I thought we performed well – we definitely showed a lot more character and the attitude was spot on,’ he said.
‘We were beaten by the better side on the day, but it was not for a lack of effort from our guys and compared to where we were against Old Albanian a couple of weeks ago, the difference was like night and day.
‘This result sits a lot more comfortably with me because of the performance.’
Guernsey scored three tries through Anthony Armstrong, Owen Thomas and Doug Horrocks and arguably should have had more, but ended up paying the price for a few minor mistakes.
‘It was a strange old day,’ Reynolds said.
‘Both teams had an intent to play and there were two occasions when we were literally within inches of scoring at one end but then within 30 seconds they had scored at the other.
‘You could call it a 14-point swing in those two moments and if we had scored one of those chances, I think we would have gone on to win the game.
‘They lived off our mistakes, but to be fair they still had to convert some really good tries from it, which they did.’
Despite the defeat, Guernsey remain eighth in the table.
More in Monday's Guernsey Press.
