Guernsey will be hoping their first victory of 2026, which ended a six-game losing streak, will spark a revival that will see them climb the National Two East table, and head coach Jordan Reynolds was just pleased to see his side get the job done against Oxford Harlequins, 26-3, in miserable wet and windy weather on Saturday at Footes Lane.
‘We got the win and five points in really, really tough conditions. That was weird wet today, the ball was like a bar of soap. Normally you can still play a little bit, but that was tough conditions,’ Reynolds said.
‘I thought we did enough. We left probably two or three tries out there, which we probably rushed, so if you look at the crux, we probably could have got six today.
‘But getting four [tries], keeping them down to three [points], is a good effort.
‘Ultimately I think there was a little part in that second half where we dropped off, I think we lost the energy and we weren’t coming off the line hard enough on defence, but it’s a good starting block for next week.’
Raiders secured the win largely through their superior power up front, with two tries coming in either half and three of them came via driving mauls as the pack dominated.
Their coach was pleased that they prevented Quins getting over the line at the other end, too.
‘I don’t know if there was any really close moments because I think we did a lot of our work in the middle third, but they’re an unstructured side, so it’s really hard to defend,’ Reynolds said.
‘But I think our guys stuck at task, which was really good, and in these conditions, that’s the hard part. It can be easy for your mind to start to wander, but we did that for the full 80, which was good.’
Another major positive for Guernsey was the return from injury of Josh Poullet, who demonstrated his influence on the side in the first half.
‘He was only ever going to do 40 today, but he made a huge difference,’ said Reynolds.
‘We’ve had some issues with our line-out over the last few weeks and he tied everything in there, which was really good. I thought our pack today was really good through the set-piece, which was great.’
He also praised the performance of Ciaran McGann who was one of three Raiders making their 100th appearance, alongside Charlie Currie and Callum Roberts.
‘It’s always great to make 100, but it’s even more special when you make it for our club.
‘Those guys have been such a big part of our squad over the years and it’s great that they’ve got to celebrate that with a win.’
