Signs of Raiders turning the tide

Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds took a lot of positives from the performance at Bury St Edmunds and felt that it was only the lack of confidence caused by poor results in February that ultimately proved decisive in a narrow 32-25 defeat.

‘It was a really close game, we played really well,’ he said.

‘The last thing I want to do is get ahead of myself, but it did feel like the tide was turning for us. The last few months have not been ideal, we have been stop-start, with games being off and we’ve had a lot of injuries, but we picked up two points away, you could argue that we could have won it and we almost drew it.

‘It is certainly something we can build on.’

Ethan Smith scored a first-half try for Raiders, which was converted by Ciaran McGann, but BSE led by 10 points at the break.

The home side also got the first try of the second half to extend their lead, but Raiders hit back with tries from Niall McGann, Phil Le Noury and debutant Blake Boyland, while the older McGann also kicked a penalty to ensure they got some reward for their efforts.

‘In the first two or three minutes of the game we just looked a bit sharper – in our first defensive set we were really dominant and did not let Burys breathe,’ Reynolds said.

‘Having seen a few facts and figures, we had more gain-line success and we also had another five opportunities to score on top of the tries we did score, whereas BSE only created one more opportunity than the ones they scored.

‘I put it down to a confidence thing why we did not convert more chances. We created some really good opportunities where the pass would just go behind the player and those balls would go to hand if we were a bit more confident.

‘If we were not creating opportunities, then I would be getting worried, but I thought collectively we did that well and I was really pleased with that aspect.’

Reynolds added that newcomer Boyland, the brother of regular Raiders scrum-half Sam, made a big difference coming into the side, but also reported that it was hard to single anyone out because everyone in a depleted side stood up to be counted.

‘They fronted up extremely well, which was pleasing,’ the coach said.

‘There’s a good side in there, even with the injuries, it is just about understanding that when you are chasing a result you are going to underperform because you feel that pressure and you overdo things, push passes you shouldn’t.

‘We just want to get back to some sort of normality and enjoy our rugby.

‘We were not far off a win, BSE were fairly good too, so hopefully we can make those few little corrections when we face Henley.’

The result saw BSE and Raiders swap places in National Two East. Guernsey are now ninth, two points below their opponents but 12 clear of the bottom four.