Raiders aiming to match BSE's physicality
RAIDERS want to sign off with a Friday night thriller in their last home game of the season tonight.
Bury St Edmunds are the final visitors to Footes Lane in this National Two East campaign and while Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds admits the change of routine presents a different challenge for his side, it is one they intend to rise to.
‘Mentally, preparing for a Friday game is a little different and we have got to get our ducks in a row, but we actually trained really well on Tuesday in some of the worst conditions you could have,’ he said.
‘We will just do a basic captain’s run instead of our regular Thursday session, but the night game with Burys was fantastic last season and we hope we get good support and a similar atmosphere this time around.’
Raiders were narrowly edged out by just five points in that Friday night contest last season and they suffered a 45-28 away defeat to BSE at the start of February in this campaign.
‘We were not able to take a strong squad away to Burys, which has been a bit of an Achilles’ heel for us since January, and we just did not perform as well as we wanted on the day, so we ended up leaking quite a lot of points,’ Reynolds said.
‘Our focus points for this week have been our discipline and our physicality. Burys are a physical side and have a strong set-piece, but if we do those two things we can be competitive.’
Guernsey are starting to get some first-team regulars back into the fold and captain Lewis Hillier has been named in a strong pack for tonight’s fixture.
In the backs, Raiders remain without the suspended Ethan Smith and Reynolds has opted to shuffle his personnel with Charlie Davies coming into midfield with Luke Sayer going to fullback.
There are also positive signs that more players will come into the reckoning for next week’s trip to Old Albanian as well as the Siam Cup in May.
‘We are focused purely on the next two games,’ said Reynolds.
‘Yes, we understand the Siam is coming up, but we are very much focused on the league and just want to get two good performances.’
• Guernsey Raiders v Bury St Edmunds kicks off at 7.30pm today at Footes Lane.
Guernsey Raiders team
Steventon, Ceillam, Pinkney, Hillier, Webb, M Creber, Rice, Smiler, Boyland, O Thomas, Roberts, Davies, McGann, Armstrong, Sayer. Replacements: Morgan, Bellingham, Culverhouse, Barnes, K Creber.