Accurate Barnes force the issue to beat Raiders

But while a battling defeat away to one of the main title contenders can often be commended, Raiders head coach Jordan Reynolds was left wondering ‘what if’ following the 24-14 loss.

‘It was a tough game. We were probably second best in most things for big parts of the day and Barnes were really accurate, to be fair,’ he said.

‘But it is just about some basics for us, we’re just lacking intensity around some core things that we have done well previously.

‘We allowed them too much around the gain line, we missed some double-men shots, we were a little bit inaccurate with some of our decision-making.’

The hosts opened a 12-point lead with two tries inside the opening quarter of the game before Raiders pulled one back through Callum Roberts on 24 minutes with Ciaran McGann adding the extras.

Barnes scored their third try shortly before half-time to take a 17-7 advantage into the interval, but Reynolds felt his side were still in the hunt.

‘We had given away a lot of penalties while Barnes were disciplined, so we said if we could get the penalty count on our side in the second half, we could claw ourselves back into the game,’ he said.

‘For parts we did that, but the trouble was they scored first in the second half and that was important.’

That converted try on 50min. gave Guernsey a mountain to climb and although they narrowed the gap when James Burger touched down, with McGann knocking over his second conversion, it came too late into the piece.

‘Ultimately, the game should have been three tries to two. We had a bit of a brain fade on one exit where we kicked it to them and they scored from it,’ Reynolds said.

‘So it was probably a bit closer than the scoreline might suggest, but if we had got those little key parts right and more intensity around the breakdown, we could have gone on to win that game.

‘We would defend well for 12 phases then give a penalty away and that’s all they need. We talked about it before the game, once they force a mistake out of you, they go to work and they are really effective at that.’

The Raiders coach added that his current co-captains Matt Creber and John Dawe led the side well in the absence of other regulars, but he did not want to look for excuses for the result.

‘We always knew it was going to be tough, but as we reflected afterwards, if we had got those little parts right, as we did when we played them the first time and as we did throughout the autumn, it could have been different.

‘We need to get back to that sort of form and I have every faith that we can do.

‘In other years we would say, “we have got all these injuries”, but I look at our dressing room and there’s definitely quality in there and enough talent, so we have to understand that.

‘The catalyst for change could be just resetting the mindset on what is important to us and it is those standards we had at the start of the season. Hopefully being back at home this coming weekend against Old Albanians will help us do that.’