Fourteen tries with some scintillating attacking play on both sides and an incredibly nervous finish when if the brave visitors had not been down to 14 men then... we will never know. The end result was that Raiders stay third in the table, but now level on points with the two teams above us – Hertford and Wimbledon.

And while we were holding on Wimbledon were losing their own unbeaten record against Tonbridge Juddian. There were several incredible aspects to the match. We were 21-0 up in the time it gets to order in a big round at the clubhouse bar.

Then Dorking smashed back and into the last 15 Dorking were 38-36 ahead.
How could we lose it after such a wonderful start, was the sentiments all through the Garenne Stand? In total, Raiders scored eight of the 14 tries with the four required for a bonus point arriving in the first 15 or 16 minutes.

Fly half Owen Thomas got us off to a great start after only 55 seconds, and although Kenny Hellier added that conversion from in front of the posts, he then missed a couple and Owen thereafter resumed the job and kicked four conversions of his own.

But in that area Dorking had someone even better - full-back Adam Worth making all six of his conversion attempts, registering a penalty and one of the tries. Good player him.
With the Guernsey pack dominant in both lineout and scrum Raiders looked a complete side and No. 8 Matt Thomas scored the first of his two tries in the sixth minute, with his second arriving just moments later.

Luke Jones added the bonus-point try on the quarter-of-an-hour mark and we were cruising at 24-0 up. But then Dorking took over and despite tries from Tom Ceillam and Jason Batiste from 36-24 ahead, Raiders found themselves trailing with 10 minutes to go and there was much shaking of heads in the stand.

Importantly, Raiders were reduced to 14 men for the closing stages and Raiders captain Lewis Hillier surged over from close range and Owen Thomas kicked the conversion to make it a five-point game. Thomas then sealed the win with an interception try and it did not matter that Dorking got one back themselves.

Nobody who was there will ever forget this one.

On Sunday, Chris Griffiths’ Ladies side bettered the men’s total with a 69-0 win away at Ashford. More to come on that one as well as reaction from the coaches.