Crucially, though, by the end of it they had got back to winning ways with the maximum return and it allowed Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds the chance to crack a wry smile.
‘Five points, who cares about the rest... we’ll deal with that Tuesday,’ he said after his side ended a run of three successive defeats.
‘This team’s got a lot of improvement to do, but we were saying that even in the first five games – there’s a lot we can improve on.
‘But I think just the important part at the moment is we’ve got a win, we’ve got five points.’
Quarter of an hour or so earlier, there had been steam coming out of his ears as his side had seemingly been doing their utmost to lose a game in which they had, at one stage, threatened to run riot.
For the opening 25 minutes, Raiders treated the Garenne Stand to some delightful, confident rugby as they exerted their authority and wrapped up the four-try bonus point with an element of ease.
The problem, apparently, was that it was all a bit too easy and Guernsey’s concentration then went AWOL, needless penalties started racking up at an alarming rate and frustrating mistakes replaced the skill and accuracy that had come before.
Havant, who struggled to live with Raiders when they were in top gear, are no mugs and proved good enough to capitalise on the home side’s failings.
They chipped away at what was once a 19-point deficit to edge ahead with 18 minutes remaining.
However, as soon as they did, it kicked Raiders back into gear and they got their act together quickly to finish with a flourish of 10 points in the last 10 minutes and get the job done.
It was a real topsy-turvy tale, though.
A strong start by the hosts saw them turn pressure into points after seven minutes when prop Bryce Stockton drove over the line from close range and Gwyn Parks added the extras.
It took them just three minutes to double their lead with scrum-half Charlie Simmonds throwing a dummy that the whole of the Havant defensive line brought before he scooted through a gap on the fringes of ruck and raced 15m untouched to the posts.
A sloppy penalty moments later gave Havant good field position and an immediate opportunity to halve the deficit, which they did after a few phases when their scrum-half Colin Sisk spun his way to the line, with Reuben Knight kicking the conversion on a day when he was perfect from the tee.
Raiders quickly shrugged off that blip to wrest control of the game once more with Ciaran McGann scoring two superbly-executed tries in the space of three minutes.
His first, which was unconverted, came from Raiders winning back possession just outside of the Havant 22 on the left-hand side before swiftly shifting out to the right, where the centre used Anthony Armstrong’s run back on his inside as a decoy to go over in the corner, showing good strength to power through one tackle and hand-off another.
McGann’s second came straight off the training ground.
Hooker Joe Callery hit his mark at a line-out in Havant territory before scampering infield to retake possession and passing to his onrushing No 13 who scythed through the defensive line on the crash ball and galloped under the posts.
Parks added the conversion and Raiders were cruising at 26-7 to the good.
When Sisk subsequently made a break on halfway and chipped ahead in an attempt to score his second try of the afternoon, Ethan Smith demonstrated a good turn of foot to get to the ball first and ground it in-goal as if to say Raiders were intent to put on a show for their home crowd.
Those fans were content with the entertainment at that point, but unbeknown to them, the tide was about to turn and, as far as they were concerned, things were about to get ugly.
Guernsey began to lose focus and the penalty count against them started to grow, giving Havant a way back into the contest.
On the half-hour, visiting No 8 Angus Southon made the green-and-whites pay for their increasing laxity as he forced his way over the line next to the posts for a converted try and shortly afterwards, with the team on a warning, the hosts lost Joel Broadhurst to the sin-bin after he was penalised for a high tackle.
Only a really good defensive set from Raiders to close out the period ensured their 14-point lead was intact at half-time, but they failed to reset at the interval and Havant sensed an opportunity.
Ten minutes into the second half Southon got his second try with a terrific one-handed reach to dot the ball down on the line.
Things were quickly going from bad to worse for Raiders as on 53min. they were reduced to 14 for the second time in the match when Parks was issued a yellow card for illegally slowing the ball at the breakdown and he was joined in the bin eight minutes later by Stockton for a high shot on fly-half Knight.
While down to 13, the home side conceded a fourth converted try, well finished by Samuel Trodd, to relinquish the lead and trail 28-26.
However, Parks returned to the fray in time for the restart and he sparked Raiders back into life with his smart self-retrieved short kick-off.
Suddenly the crowd, who had fallen very subdued, were roused and the team were too.
When a scrum came moments later with Stockton still in the sin-bin, fan-favourite Layton Batiste briefly stepped out of retirement to enter the fray and what an impact he made – winning a penalty which eventually led to another in front of the sticks that Parks slotted over to regain the lead with 10 minutes remaining.
While the Guernsey advantage was a slender one, they had warmed to their task once more and they saw out the closing stages with added intensity and few alarms, with Stockton putting the finishing touches to the victory with his second try from the final play of the game.
TEAMS
Guernsey Raiders: Bray, Callery, Stockton, Shenton, Broadhurst, Creber, Rice, Poullet, Simmonds, Parks, Smith, Dawe, C McGann, A Armstrong, Roberts.
Replacements: Cantle, Batiste, Webb, Davies, Teasdale.
Havant: Vince, Shepherd, Maxfield, Butterwick, Ferson, Owen, Dugan, Southon, Sisk, R Knight, Trodd, J Knight, Gwyther, Chambers, Evans.
Replacements: Boa, Chirima, Burgess, Pooley, Wadman.
