Raiders floored by Hawks comeback
THERE was dramatic late heartbreak for Raiders to start the year on Saturday.
Having hit a purple patch at the start of the second half of a typically tight tussle with Henley to open a 14-point lead, Guernsey then saw their advantage whittled away in the final quarter of the game until visiting fly-half Max Titchener nudged his side one point ahead with three minutes to play.
Raiders managed to force a penalty with time about to expire, but with Owen Thomas having departed the action, it was left to Charlie Davies to attempt to slot over a difficult kick from 30m into the teeth of a strong wind whipping in from the direction of the Grammar School.
He struck it well enough, but it drifted just to the right of the posts and Henley could celebrate a 27-26 victory.
‘Extremely frustrating – you can imagine,’ said Raiders coach Malcolm Barnes, in charge of the side in Jordan Reynolds’ absence, of the disappointing finale to the game.
‘We came out and played a really good 20 minutes at the start of that second half and after that that was when our defence also started slipping off, we started tackling with our arms and not our shoulders.
‘They started making a few more line-breaks and we were always on the back foot in that last 20 minutes.
‘Obviously, we had the chance to win it with that last kick, it wasn’t to be, but hopefully next time.’
In contrast to Raiders director of rugby Reynolds, who returns from holiday next week, Barnes was initially reluctant to discuss some of the decisions that went against his side and angered a vocal Garenne Stand crowd.
He eventually admitted that some left him scratching his head.
‘Yeah, especially at scrum time. I actually thought our scrum was quite dominant, but they must have had four or five scrum penalties and I don’t think we got any.
‘A lot of offside penalties as well at the ruck and the maul which again I think were dubious, but that’s the way it went.’
However, he quickly added that his side could not blame the defeat on the officiating.
‘We have to finish our opportunities and we have to look at our discipline. I know there were a lot of penalties against us today, they can’t all be the ref’s fault, so we need to look at that.’
Match report in Monday's Guernsey Press
