Raiders had never beaten Es previously and the visitors arrived at Footes Lane sitting second in National Two East, level on points with table-toppers Old Albanians, but ‘Es’ were second best by a considerable distance against the outstanding green-and-whites, who were not flattered by the 45-19 scoreline.
‘There’s a huge amount to be proud about,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds.
‘Our set piece was excellent today, but I thought defensively we just didn’t give the oxygen that Esher needed to survive in.
‘I just said to the boys, defensively, I think that’s probably one of our best this season and we’ve just got to keep building from there.’
Guernsey scored six tries in all and had the four-try bonus point wrapped up before half-time thanks to the highlight of the game, a stunning effort from winger Ethan Smith, which involved a perfectly-weighted chip ahead before a combination of pace and strength to finish it off.
‘If that doesn’t get on the try of the week for National Rugby, I don’t know what will – great try,’ Reynolds said.
‘The array of tries that we scored today was excellent. I thought our backline performed really well and our pack was excellent.’
Having lost their first three games of the season which saw them rooted to the bottom of the table, Raiders have now won three in a row and are up to ninth.
‘Look, we know we weren’t very good in those first three games – we were all right the first game, the other two were a bit sobering for us,’ said Reynolds.
‘To see where we are now... I think by Christmas time you’ll probably see where everyone’s at.
‘We’ve still got some tough games coming up. Sevenoaks are just one of these teams that are really difficult to beat, it doesn’t matter if it’s home or away they stay in the fight, so we’ve got a huge challenge to go there next week, but hopefully we can build it from where we are today.
‘And if this can creep us a little higher up the ladder and away from the drop zone, great.’
Read a full match report in Monday’s Guernsey Press
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