After a bright start in Essex, Guernsey found themselves trailing 21-12 shortly after half-time against relegation-threatened Colchester, but responded impressively to win with a bonus-point while denying their hosts any of their own to the delight of head coach Jordan Reynolds.
‘I was pleasantly surprised by the energy we showed,’ he said.
‘It is hard to sit on a coach for two hours and then play a game when it is hot, but the boys showed a lot of energy and it bodes well for the rest of season.’
Phil Le Noury gave Raiders the ideal start with the opening try inside five minutes.
They then increased their lead to a dozen points before a quarter-of-an-hour had even been played when scrum-half Dale Rutledge went over and Ciaran McGann added the conversion.
However, the visitors then lost momentum and Colchester hit back with two converted tries of their own, scored by Ratu Luke Rokomoce and Cameron Kerr with Jonah Varela kicking the extras, to lead 14-12 at the interval.
A breakaway try for Rokomoce eight minutes into the second half, again converted by Varela, increased the gap to nine points, but then Raiders got to work.
Anthony Armstrong scored a converted try in the 56th minute to bring them back within a score and just after the hour mark Josh Poullet burst through a gap to put Guernsey ahead.
Four minutes from time they completed their victory when McGann slotted over a penalty, a decision the coach took out of the on-field players’ hands.
‘The penalty was about 15m in from the touchline on their 22, we were five points ahead and still had four minutes to play, so if you make it eight, they have to score twice,’ Reynolds said.
‘The guys on the pitch were considering kicking to the corner, but I sent Layton Batiste on with the kicking tee so once he stepped onto the pitch the referee said the decision had been made that we were going for the posts.’
While pleased with the result, Reynolds called the performance ‘patchy’.
‘We started really well, in the first 15 minutes we were excellent, but then we had a spell where we could not get past first phase because we were trying to score too early without building pressure,’ he said.
‘Defensively, we were solid throughout and we were playing against a side who are extremely desperate for wins, so playing with the energy that brings.
‘The fact that we managed to come back and win will be a bit of a confidence boost for us because it is a tough place to go and a long old journey for us.’
Reynolds added that there were good individual performances all-round, giving name-checks to Carter Hackett and Ciaran McGann while reporting that Dom Rice continues to get back into his stride following his lengthy lay-off.
Unfortunately, Matt Creber suffered a knee injury and Raiders are waiting on the diagnosis.
The win saw Guernsey climb above Henley to seventh in the table with two rounds of fixtures remaining.
Raiders host Sevenoaks this coming Saturday before completing their programme away to Worthing after Easter.
‘We still want to be in the top six by the end of the season and all we can do is try our best to win the next two games,’ Reynolds said.
‘It might not seem like a lot to go from eighth up to seventh, but being in the top half after what we have been through this season is a boost – we have faced some pretty ordinary luck and it is pretty tough to keep the team mentally positive, but that win at the weekend and being seventh now is a good effort.
‘It’s quite daunting to think that the last home game of the season against Sevenoaks will be our 11th straight game without a rest, but we get a decent break over Easter before Worthing, so hopefully we have got a little bit more in the tank this week.’
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