Raiders had to work extremely hard to extend their unbeaten run in National Two East to seven games against the side who started the day in second place, but a performance full of grit and determination as well as the occasional moment of magic, saw them overcome Bury St Edmunds 21-16 on Saturday afternoon at Footes Lane.
‘Very proud,’ said a smiling Simmonds, who has also played cricket for the island, as he reflected on bringing up his 100.
‘It was good, nice to do it at home, my family came over to watch as well, which is nice, and obviously, most importantly, to get a win against a really well-drilled Bury team – so very happy.’
A real nip-and-tuck battle could have gone either way, but the decisive moment of the game when Ant Armstrong telegraphed an attempted long, looping pass from former Raiders Matt Hema and used all his height to intercept on the half-way line before setting off, untouched, to score the only try of the second half.
Liam Welch had earlier touched down for Raiders while Ciaran McGann kicked the other 11 points on a day when Simmonds said ‘clarity’ was the key to victory.
‘We stuck to our game plan, we stuck to our process, kept things simple, and just really worked hard on things that we got wrong last week,’ the fly-half added.
‘I thought the defensive effort at the end was most important, keeping them out was huge.
‘So it was very good and obviously, buzzing about it.’
On a personal level, Simmonds, who under went surgery to have his bowel removed due to ulcerative colitis a couple of years ago, admitted there was a stage when he thought he might not play again, making this milestone all the more special.
‘At one point I never thought 50 was coming, let alone 100, so it’s very nice.
‘And once I knew it was booked in the diary, it was something I couldn’t really get out of my mind. So very, very proud to be part of the club there and put the jacket on later and very happy.’
Having been replaced earlier in the second half as Raiders freshened things up, he also finished the game back on the pitch due to an injury to John Dawe late on.
‘It’s a tough time to come on isn’t it? One minute to go and they’re on your line,’ said Simmonds laughing.
‘But I’d rather be on the pitch than watching. I hate watching from the sideline. So it was good to finish it off at the end.’
Raiders face Barnes on Saturday 13 December in their final home game of 2025, with trips to London Welsh and Canterbury to come before then.
Read a full match report in Monday’s Guernsey Press
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