So Close

Picking up losing bonus points was a stated objective of Jordan Reynolds even before a pass was thrown and ball kicked in this National 2 South campaign.
And Nick Merrien’s late, late converted try under the lights at Footes Lane ensures we stay off the bottom rung of the early season table. In fact, two spots off bottom with both Birmingham & Solihull and London Irish Wild Geese, occupying the bottom two places at present.

Although four straight losses looks poor, there are now clear signs of improvement at this elevated level and with the injury list sure to ease soon, there was an increased step in Reynolds’ stride after this one-point loss to a worthy Redruth.
Like the Worthing game, this was a match that could have been won, but all things considered the Cornish team deserved the match points.
They played into the elements in the first-half with the game, as expected, turning into a forward battle.
After a point-less opening 20 minutes an unconverted try after half an hour touched down by skipper Lewis Hillier, gave the home side the lead.
Redruth then found themselves down to 14 as prop Craig Williams was sent to the bin.
Raiders’ full-back Alex Gow extended his side’s lead to 8-0 with a penalty as the break approached, but crucially for Redruth, they pulled back a penalty on the stroke of half-time thanks to full-back Aaron Simmonds’ well-judged kick in the difficult conditions.
Even then, an 8-3 lead seemed a poor return for the team with the wind at their backs.
It could not be denied that Raiders had largely wasted the advantage, failing to reproduce the game plan of kicking into the Les Ozouets corner.
Redruth were not so wasteful.
With the wind at their backs Redruth got their second half off to a good start with a try from No.8 Ben Fox converted by fly-half Richie Kevern to get their noses ahead on the scoreboard.
As the half wore on Guernsey found themselves being penalised allowing Simmonds to kick two further penalties extending Redruth’s advantage to 16-8.
But displaying terrific spirit Raiders threw everything at their visitors in the closing moments and were eventually rewarded with a second try scored by lock Merrien.
The returning Luke Sayer adding the extras with a brilliant kick to set up a tense finish, but it left us one point short on the scoreboard and when the Raiders lost the ball in contact on halfway a jubilant Redruth were able to see out time before kicking the ball to touch and seal victory.

TEAMS
Guernsey Raiders: Steventon, Ceillam, Currie, Hillier, Merrien, Horrocks, Rice, M. Thomas, Clemett, Morisio, Martin, J. Batiste, Ahne, Sayer, Gow. Replacements used: L. Batiste, Quate.
Redruth: Tompsett, Brown, Williams, Hattam, Clemson, Grubb, Stevens, Fox, Oulton, Kevern, Cornish, Gilbert, Simmons, Jones, Simmonds. Replacements: Tucker, Hodge, Norman, Barnes, Prisk.