Raiders show their mettle despite Blackheath victory

Blackheath are marching towards promotion and they brought a National One intensity to Guernsey on Saturday, but Raiders stood toe-to-toe with the champions-elect and deserved something out of this brutal encounter.

The reason they did not salvage a losing bonus point for finishing within seven of the victors, though, came via the biggest compliment they could have had for their performance – the choice of Blackheath to take three points from a penalty 30m out in the last 10 minutes to ensure a 17-7 victory.

They were not taking any chances against a side who had posed a threat to them all afternoon in front of a terrific home crowd that must have been pushing four figures.

‘We fired a couple of good shots at them today and they’re a quality outfit. I’m just really proud of what we delivered,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds.

‘I don’t think anyone gave us a chance to beat them, but we actually believed in ourselves that we could and I hope we’ve gone a long way to prove to people that we can do this, we can be this competitive at National Two.

‘The scoreline does not reflect the game. Them taking a penalty towards the end reflects the game.’

Raiders knew the size of the challenge and they rose to it.

From 1-20 the hosts put in an immense shift against a side who were a step above others who have visited Footes Lane this season.

The Blackheath defence, in particular, was formidable. While the vast majority at step-four level make tackles to stop their opponents at the gain-line, the intent of the league leaders was to push the ball-carrier back, metre after metre, to get the attacking side on the back foot.

That much was obvious from the outset, but it was to Guernsey’s credit that they took the early initiative and then the lead on 7min. as, from a catch-and-drive line-out from 5m out, Dom Rice peeled from the maul to dive over and Charlie Davies added the extras.

The sheer intensity of the contest, though, meant that both sides struggled to find their accuracy, making the first half one perhaps for the purist.

Blackheath were back on level terms after quarter-of-an-hour when, after scrum-half Jack Daly took a quick tap penalty inside the Raiders 22, the forwards piled the pressure on the Guernsey line until finally they got over it through prop Archie Holland with Oliver Burgess adding the extras.

Perhaps more importantly for Guernsey, in the process of defending that attack, they lost Tom Ceillam to injury and his presence was missed for the remaining hour or so.

But the home side got to the break still on level terms, with the biggest cheer of the first half coming when Matt Creber levelled Burgess with a fearsome tackle that told Blackheath that they were getting nothing handed to them this day.

The second half was as close a contest as the first, but this time it was the visitors who struck an early blow which proved to be decisive as again Holland went over from close range after another succession of phases within sight of the Raiders line.

If anything, Guernsey looked the more likely to unlock the defence after that score with the backs willing to spread the ball through the hands despite the damp conditions, but they just could not find the cutting edge.

As the game entered the last 10 minutes, so came that match-clinching penalty, which Burgess slotted over from 30m.

Raiders spent the rest of the game chasing a bonus-point and came close when Charlie Davies put through a grubber kick for Jordan Smiler to chase in the last couple of minutes at the culmination of a prolonged attack, but somehow it ended with the Raiders No 8 being shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Burgess as he stooped to collect the ball.

The decision seemed harsh, but it would affect the result.

‘I’m really proud, in these conditions, we played to width like we said we were going to and we showed the areas that Blackheath has weaknesses and not many other teams have found that against them, so really happy,’ Reynolds said.