Raiders rose to the occasion magnificently, inflicting a defeat on Jersey that was far more convincing than the eventual 35-28 scoreline suggests with the visitors scoring two late tries once the hosts had already got the job done.
And while there were jubilant scenes among the players, coaches and their supporters after the final whistle, there was also the sense of redemption for captain Dom Rice.
‘Last year hurt this group a lot, and you try not to talk about it all season, a tough National Two campaign, but to just cap it off here in front of everyone, friends, family that travelled a long way to be here, people watching at home on the live stream – my brother’s in Australia, I think he’s probably still up watching it – this is special,’ said the skipper with his head bandaged and shirt bloodied after a typically intense Siam battle.
‘You remember these for the rest of your life and I’m just so delighted for the rest of the team that we could do it and the coaching staff as well.
‘We’ve been through a lot this season. Jordy [Reynolds], Jonesy [Luke Jones], Tom [Eisenhuth], they’ve stuck with it, stuck with us when we’ve not been too great on the road and inconsistent, and it’s just absolutely amazing.’
The captain himself played a huge part in the victory, scoring a pivotal try with the last play of the first half that gave his side a deserved 11-point lead at the break which they extended to 21 points at one stage before they took their foot off the gas in the final couple of minutes.
‘That try just before half time, I genuinely honestly believe that that changes the game and probably seals it a little bit,’ Rice said.
‘We go in with momentum, we come out and if we stick to task, if we exit well, we knew we’d be in with a sniff at the end.
‘Our bench was fantastic, it was strong, we had a lot of experience in that group and I’m delighted.’
He added that the victory was a fitting send-off for the likes of Tom Ceillam and Lewis Hillier as they head into retirement.
‘Before we came out I said “look, there’s guys in this group that should have retired last year”, but they came back today because that occasion and what we’ve just put on means so much to people.
‘And to retire – and hopefully they will retire, hang up their boots – and do it like that, that’s really special. I’ll never forget last season we went over to friends and family in Jersey and Tom Ceillam’s wife, was like, “you just can’t retire on that”. And that just sums up this group, that sums up this occasion, sums up this island and what this rugby club is about.
‘I couldn’t be prouder today.’
In the other Siam matches, Guernsey Ladies suffered the agony of a one-point defeat as they went down 20-19, while Jersey also retained the Fallaize Cup as the men’s second-team clash ended in a dramatic 21-21 draw.
Guernsey Vets won the Nash Cup 61-17 while Jersey Thirds lifted the Woody Cup 51-21.
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