ALMOST THERE

LET’S hope the two late, late tries conceded when Raiders were dropping like flies, don’t come back to haunt us in the event of any tie at the top.
But other than that this, it was another hugely satisfying day for the club who were short of seven first-team regulars and, given Westcombe’s form, were vulnerable.
That was probably the feeling, too, at Barnes where title rivals Barnes and Tring fought out a 20-17 scoreline which kills the losers in terms of the title race and, probably, promotion hopes.
Raiders now find themselves on the verge of both the title and promotion to National Two with just one more major obstacle to clear - Tring.
Will they be deflated or even more pumped up?
Jordan Reynolds strongly suspects it will be the latter.
'Knowing what they are like I don't expect them to be deflated after the loss. They are a pretty feisty team and knowing them they will want to upset what we are trying to do,’ he said.
‘We now know what we need to do which is just go there and win. We're not thinking about bonus points.
'It is something that is well achievable. We've just got to perform on the day. I believe we can do it.’

But back to Westcombe.
What a cracking game it turned out to be.
There was a late change to the Raiders side with Robin Le Cocq work-tied and Dan Hill still unfit, Cameron Craine subsequently moved into the back row with Luke Skovronek coming in as a replacement.

The home side needed a positive start and six minutes in Raiders made their first mark with Layton Batiste on the overlap to score in front of the Hockey Clubhouse.
Westcombe hit back with a 20th minute penalty from scrum half James Cameron, but it was Raiders who struck again and 24min., a reverse off load by Owen Thomas setting up Armstrong to score.
Thomas pulled his kick and it remained 10-3, but after another Cameron penalty a third try arrived on the half-hour mark with Douglas Horrocks breaking off the back of a scrum brilliantly and sprinting 40 metres before offloading outside to the outstanding Armstrong who went through and across the try line for a score under the posts.
Thomas knocked over the extra and it was 17-6 with the bonus point in sight.
It was a good half’s work from Raiders and three minutes into the second half Raiders brought out the catch-and-drive to score via Kyle Brown for a bonus point fourth try and a 24-6 lead once Thomas had converted.
On the hour mark Thomas made the game safe with a stunning opportunistic break down the left touchline before cutting in to the posts, making for an easy conversion for himself.
Dan Hamilton’s try and Cameron’s conversion was soon knocking a seven-point indent into the Raiders’ big advantage, but Raiders immediately responded with a Blair Campbell try in the corner, this time superbly converted by Thomas, for a 38-13 lead going into the last 10.
Yet Westcombe kept plugging away and veteran front rower Jamie Forsyth dabbed down with the safe boot of Cameron again adding the extras.
There was still time for the try of the game, a brilliant jinking run by winger Lewis Harte.
Was it better than Owen’s?
Possibly, but it was the result that mattered.

TEAMS
Raiders: Steventon, Ceillam, L. Batiste, Hillier, Merrien, Craine, Martin, Horrocks; K. Brown, Thomas, Ahne, Campbell, N. Brown, J. Batiste, Armstrong.
Replacements: Currie, Skovronek, Elliott.

Westcombe Park: Porter, Onwuka, Forsyth, Clarke, Delderfield, Milligan, Sullivan, Springer; Cameron, White, Harte, Bonner, Thomas, Hamilton, Saffery.
Replacements: Simmons, Pohlen, Pursell.