Poor second half leads to defeat for Worthing Raiders at Tonbridge Juddians

At half-time they were playing well and seemingly in control – but not for the first time this season they succumbed to a spirited second half performance from the opposition.

Tonbridge Juddians deservedly won the contest based on their efforts in the second half.

Games between these two sides have always been close fought and generally produced entertaining rugby.

In November Raiders were the victors at Roundstone Lane but on home turf at the Slade Tonbridge Juddians are a difficult side to beat.

With Raiders starting the day in third place on 83 points and Tonbridge Juddians in eighth place on 61 both sides had plenty of motivation to do well.

The nucleus of the Raiders’ squad was the same as that which took on North Walsham in the previous game.

With Will Rigelsford involved with the Navy squad to play the Army and Curtis Barnes injured, Iago Davies returned at scrum half and the backs were reorganised with Tom Derrick moving to the wing. Ethan Clarke returned to the front row and Tom Sunray completed the bench.

After another wet week the pitch was in surprisingly good condition and on a dry, windy afternoon Juddians kicked off with the wind at their backs.

The first 15 minutes saw the visitors dominate possession as they played expansive rugby deep in the home side’s territory.

From a penalty, 12 minutes in, Raiders kicked to the corner and from the ensuing lineout drove towards the try line.

When progress was halted the forwards went through the phases but were still prevented from crossing the line. Eventually the ball was moved across the back line until Harrison Sims burst through to score the first points of the afternoon.

With the conversion from Matt McLean the visitors had a well deserved 0-7 lead.

From the restart Tonbridge Juddians gave away another penalty and the visitors were able to re-establish their attack from the halfway line.

The quality of rugby they were playing was good but it didn’t earn them any more points during this period.

Juddians began to see more of the ball and began to look dangerous; however the Raiders’ defence was sound and put enough pressure on them to break up their attacks.

After 18 minutes Tonbridge Juddians received a yellow card and not long after Raiders also received one and Ethan Clarke spent ten minutes in the sin bin.

Fraser Bruce replaced him in the front row and Tom Derrick was sacrificed for the duration of the sin bin.

Shortly before the half-hour mark the home side levelled the score at 7-7 with a converted try.

Juddians were on the attack a few minutes later when the Raiders’ defence caused them to spill the ball, McLean got to the ball first and rather than try to pick it up he kicked it ahead. The home side managed to get back and drop on the ball a few metres from their try line and prevent Raiders from scoring.

An altercation between Will Hoare and a Tonbridge Juddians’ player resulted in both receiving a red card just before half-time.

After the incident a penalty was awarded to Raiders and they kicked to the corner. From the lineout they drove to the try line for Dan Sargent to touch down. The try was unconverted and the visitors took a 7-12 lead into the half-time break.

Having replaced Jonny Smith with Frank Taggart at the break, Raiders kicked off playing down the slope and with the wind at their backs.

With conditions in their favour it was expected that the visitors would use the boot to get deep into Juddians’ territory before returning to their normal expansive style of play.

But this didn’t happen and was to some degree the reason the game slipped away from them.

Raiders made a bright start to the half but although they came close, they could not extend their lead.

As always the bench was used throughout the half to maintain the energy level on the pitch. Jack Doorey-Palmer and Ethan Clarke replaced Elliott Luke and Zach Carr after ten minutes.

The home side raised their game and were putting immense pressure on the visitors as they repeatedly tried to run out of defence. Eventually they were rewarded with an unconverted try to level it at 12-12.

After a sweeping move the visitors almost scored in the corner but the ball was dislodged by the tackle as they crossed the line. This was something of a turning point and seemed to give the home side the confidence to really open up their game.

Tonbridge Juddians took the lead with a converted try as the game moved into the final quarter, 19-12.

Both Harry Nelson and Tom Sunray were sent on to try to retake control of the game, however the visitors now looked lacking in confidence and were guilty of making errors and conceding too many penalties.

Eventually the game was taken away from Raiders when the home side scored their decisive fourth try, which was converted to extend their lead to 26-12.

The final few moments gave Raiders the chance to try to earn a losing bonus point but they were unable to get any further points before the referee ended the game.

Worthing remain third and host Westcliff this Saturday.​​​​​​​​​​​​​ (3pm).

Referee: Mike Lamb

Scorers: Try: Sims, Sargent. Con: McLean

Team: 1 Ethan Clarke 2. Elliott Luke 3. Dan Sargent 4. Jack Lake 5. Will Hoare 6. Zach Carr 7. Jonny Smith 8. Liam Perkins – Captain 9. Iago Davies 10. Sam Evans 11. Tom Derrick 12. Harrison Sims 13. Jack Forrest 14. Tom Bowen 15. Matt McLean. Bench: 16. Jack Doorey-Palmer 17. Fraser Bruce 20. Frank Taggart 23. Tom Sunray 24. Harry Nelson.