Guernsey ran out 40-19 winners away to Leicester Lions with debutant Joe Callery scoring two tries while Matt Creber, John Dawe, Martinas Dromantas and Anthony Armstrong also touched down as Jordan Reynolds’ side hit the ground running to start their league campaign. Fly-half Gwyn Parks added five conversions.
‘A lot of the work we have put in over the summer really came to the fore on the weekend,’ said the Raiders head coach.
‘Getting this tough fixture out of the way early on with a really good result was just rewards for the effort the players and the coaching group have put in over the last couple of weeks.
‘In the simple things like defensive effort and winning collisions, we were right on the money, and the scoreline does not really reflect the game because we gave them two intercept tries, which was 14 points, and we probably left another two or three tries out there ourselves just because we were a little bit rusty.
‘But overall it was an excellent performance from our guys.’
Raiders set the tone from an early stage as they prevented their hosts scoring from a 5m maul in the opening few minutes before winning a scrum penalty which they used to gain field position and Reynolds felt they looked comfortable from there on as they opened a 21-0 lead by half-time.
‘We have to work pretty hard for a lot of our tries. The Lions did not make it easy for us, they are a very physical side and they have a lot of players with National One experience,’ he said.
‘But the real difference was our ability to win the middle of the pitch, win penalties and in Gwyn Parks we have someone who can put the ball into touch six or seven metres from their line from where our catch-and-drive went to work.
‘Four of our tries were from rolling mauls, which was really pleasing, and it maybe resembled what the Raiders team looked like a couple of years ago when we could go to our catch and maul to good effect.’
Reynolds was arguably even more pleased by his side’s work out of possession.
‘There were a couple of other times they were banging on the door in the first half, but our guys kept repelling them, and it’s those little moments where we are putting in maximum effort to get under someone to prevent them scoring a try even when we are 21 points ahead and that’s great to see.
‘We kept on playing throughout the game, kept on making them work for it and, as I said, 14 of their points came from interceptions, so they only really worked one of their tries, which is an awesome effort from our boys.’
Callery got the team’s player-of-the-match accolade, but the head coach reported that there were several contenders, particularly in the pack.
He also reiterated the impact the new signings have had on the squad since their arrival in the summer.
‘There is only so much the new players can deliver in terms of the performance aspect, but the real change they have created is the dynamic within the group.
‘There is a new-found enthusiasm now, the squad are training differently and everyone seems to have a smile on their face and that’s because these new guys have come in, they do not have a view on what happened in the past, they are just interested in taking Raiders forward having come on board.’
Having won on their longest trip of the season, Guernsey will aim to follow up on their much-anticipated shortest journey of the campaign this coming Saturday.
‘We have to go to Jersey next and we know that is a very difficult place to get a win, but we are taking a lot of confidence from the weekend and it will be a really exciting opportunity for us,’ said Reynolds.
London Welsh held off a late Jersey rally to win 33-22 in their opening day clash at St Peter, with debutants Ollie Monye and Buster Wilkins both scoring twice.
Jersey had trailed 33-10 before Kade Bird and Jack Macfarlane crossed in the final nine minutes to secure a bonus point ahead of the Channel Islands derby.
National Two East opening day results
Barnes 45, Colchester 28; Canterbury 31, Old Albanians 34; Havant 43, Dorking 35; Jersey 22, London Welsh 33; Leicester Lions 19, Guernsey Raiders 40; Oundle 52, Esher 31; Westcombe Park 38, Henley 35.
