Going into this big clash at Footes Lane Park, Guernsey were two places and three points behind Havant in the standings, but by the end of the afternoon they had usurped their visitors in eighth, and also leapfrogged over London Welsh, thanks to a performance that merited a far more comfortable victory on the scoreboard than the eventual 36-26 margin.
The home deficiencies came in defence where a few lapses in concentration allowed Havant to pick up their own four-try bonus point, but in possession Raiders were a real handful, with willing ball-carriers all over the park who consistently made hard yards with powerful runs that kept the Hampshire outfit continually on the back foot.
The Raiders handling was not half bad, either, with a couple of sublime moments that led to tries drawing murmurs of approval from an appreciative Garenne Stand crowd before they increased in volume to roars of delight to greet the subsequent touchdowns.
To a man, the hosts showed desire to influence the game and the return of the likes of John Dawe, Hugo Culverhouse and Martinas Dromantas certainly had the impact Jordan Reynolds would have hoped for, while the usual suspects such as Matt Creber and Anthony Armstrong really relished this contest, too.
Raiders had to come from behind to win the game, though, because despite starting strongly, they were caught out down by Havant down the short side of a maul on halfway, leading to Colin Sisk scoring the opening try having supported the break by his scrum-half Benjamin Holt, with Jacob Knight adding the extras.
Guernsey, who had been penalised for blocking at their first attempted maul which gave Havant a platform to score from, quickly came up with a response as their pack got their next catch-and-drive right and drove their side from just outside the 22 up to within 10m of the line.
When the ball emerged, Tom Teasdale ghosted through to score under the posts. His conversion, though, clattered into the underside of the crossbar to leave it as a five-point score.
For the next 20 minutes there was plenty of hard running, and yards made, by both sides, but it was Guernsey who were having much more of the ball and it seemed only a matter of time before they took the lead.
When their second try came from an initial break by Charlie Simmonds and Dawe, Teasdale was heavily involved at the culmination once more, this time with a sumptuous slight of hand that saw him take a low pass around his ankles before shipping it off to Anthony Armstrong in one glorious movement to give the winger the try his all-round performance thoroughly deserved.
This time Teasdale added the extras and he did so again eight minutes later when converting the third try, scored by scrum-half Dale Rutledge after more strong running from Armstrong.
By that time, Raiders had also been held up over the line three times, including twice in as many minutes as they threatened to run riot, but Havant’s resolute defence meant that they were still in the game and even more so by half-time as they finished the first half with a ridiculously simple try.
From a line-out on the left, one carry in midfield was halted, but a quick switch back to where they had just came from gave fullback Dylan Evans acres of space to score with no-one in green-and-whites anywhere in sight to make a tackle.
That made it a one-score game at the interval, much to the frustration of the home bench.
Havant then came within a metre or so of drawing level at the start of the second half and Teasdale did brilliantly to stop Holt, earning his side a penalty in the process, but it was to be his last contribution as he was injured in doing so.
Raiders were still playing with 14 when Havant did cross the line two minutes later through Craig Durnin with Knight’s conversion making it 19-19, but once back up to a full complement, the home side started going through the gears.
They regained the lead in the 51st minute when Germany international Dawe touched down following good work from Creber and Sam Steventon to secure the bonus point.
Ten minutes later they stretched their advantage further when Michael Cantle was on hand to receive Liam Welch’s sublime offload to power over.
A familiar face in former Raider Jack Colbourne made it a try-scoring return to Footes Lane seven minutes from time to keep Havant in the hunt as the hosts briefly became complacent, but that was as far as the Raiders hospitality would go and they deprived the visitors of a losing bonus point when Simmonds slotted over a penalty from in front of the post entering the last minute of the game.
‘Ultimately, we got tested today, but I think we fronted up really well,’ Reynolds said.
‘I wonder if it has anything to do with the dry pitch and the sunshine because I thought our backline were just all over them today.’
