Worthing Warriors fought back from a 24-12 half-time deficit to emerge 39-29 victors at Footes Lane, but the home side’s head coach Steve Evans was very upbeat afterwards.
‘We had some new players out there, so many inexperienced players and I think the team pulled together really well, and Worthing are always difficult opposition,’ he said.
‘I didn’t know what to expect today. We haven’t managed to get a pre-season friendly in for a whole variety of reasons, so that was the first time we played a competitive game and I think it showed in places, but I think the ladies should be proud of themselves and they’ve done well.
‘We gave away a couple of soft tries in the first half, but when you look at the squad that we had and the players that we’ve lost through the off season – we’ve got our girls go off to France and back off to uni – so we’ve added some new players and Worthing is always a tight game, it’s usually one score, it was two this time.
‘I’m really proud of them to be honest, and I think it bodes well for the rest of the season.’
Raiders were particularly impressive in the first half as they scored four tries and twice opened up a 19-point lead, but the loss of key figures due to injury in the second half took its toll in the end.
‘We had to make some changes, enforced changes, and people just playing slightly out of position. Then it’s a matter of inches,’ Evans said.
‘I’m just pleased the way they played, not so pleased with the result, but I think Worthing on the day probably deserved that. They fought back really well and there were just a couple of times we had a lapse in concentration and they capitalised on it.
‘I think it just shows that we can’t afford to relax. You’ve got to keep playing for the whole 80 minutes.
‘But we’ve got some new players, some young players coming through, we’ve got some people to come back from injury, there’s people still away on holiday, so yeah I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.’
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