Guernsey Raiders 45-38 Henley Hawks
By Alistair Beynon
Guernsey Raiders turned around a 26-12 half time deficit to come out on top, 45-38 in an exhilarating end-to-end clash in the Channel Islands.
Despite coming away with two points for their efforts, Henley will be disappointed not to have made it a five point win, but the Raiders were good value for their triumph with a superb second half showing of running rugby.
It was the home side who started the game on the front foot, and they took the lead after just 5 minutes of the game gone when hooker Tom Ceillam was the man to touch down following a powerful driving maul. Ciaran McGann was narrowly off target with the conversion but Guernsey had an early 5-0 advantage.
Henley slowly came back into the contest and took advantage of poor discipline from the Raiders to move the ball into the hosts 22. From the resulting lineout, Henley went through several phases before Scott White peeled off the back of a ruck to crash over from close range to level the scores. Max Titchener calmly slotted the conversion to make it 7-5 to Henley with a quarter of the game gone.
It got even better for Henley just a couple of minutes later when a charged down kick was brilliantly collected by Toby Howe and his superb offload to Lailand Gordon saw the wing dive into the corner for the Hawks second score of the afternoon. Titchener converted from the touchline and Henley had moved to a 14-5 lead.
With their tails well and truly up, the visitors pulled further clear when prop Kadeem Collins powered his way into Guernsey territory. His deft offload to Gordon saw the wing evade several tackles before handing off to Leo Webb to cross the whitewash. With Titchener again adding the extras, Henley were running rampant at 21-5.
However, despite the scoreline, Guernsey were playing some excellent rugby themselves and reminded the Hawks just how dangerous they could be when wing Anthony Armstrong went over in the corner to cut the deficit. McGann converted well from out wide and the Raiders were back in the contest at 21-12.
Henley lost White to a nasty looking shoulder injury on the half hour mark, but this setback didn't derail their ambitions as just before the break, Hawks Number 8 Will Benning secured their try bonus point when he peeled off the back of a powerful scrum to dot down out wide. Titchener was narrowly off target with his conversion attempt, but Henley went in at the break with a commanding 26-12 advantage.
Whatever was said in the home sides changing room during the interval clearly had the desired effect as they came out in the second half with renewed purpose. Just five minutes into the second half Armstrong grabbed his second of the game when he saw a gap on the blindside following a driving maul to go over untouched. McGann converted well and it was suddenly a one score game at 26-19.
With Henley again falling foul of the referees whistle, something that has been an issue too often this season, the Hawks lead was wiped out just a few minutes later when scrum half Sam Boyland spotted a gap to crash over from close range following another powerful catch and drive. McGann again converted well and it was suddenly 26-26 after 53 minutes.
This seemed to spur Henley into life and they retook the lead on the hour mark when Spencer Hayhow collected a loose ball from a Raiders lineout on their own 22, and his offload to Webb saw the centre crash over for his second of the game. Titchener converted and the Hawks were back in front at 33-26.
However, back came the home side yet again and a devastating 10-minute spell saw them blow Henley away with a quickfire three tries. First, another driving maul was brilliantly finished by second row Carter Hackett who did very well to dot down under the sticks to level the scores at 33-33. Flanker Liam Welch's score a few minutes later gave the home side the lead back when he ran in from the 22 untouched with Henley's defensive line all at sea. McGann converted again and it was 40-33 with 10 minutes remaining.
Despite trying to find the form that had seemingly deserted them from the first half, Armstrong sealed an impressive hattrick a few minutes later to seemingly put the contest to bed at 45-33.
However, Henley kept fighting and were rewarded with a losing bonus point on the stroke of full-time when captain Rory Mason powered over from close range. Titchener was narrowly off target with the conversion, but Guernsey had sealed a remarkable 45-38 win which seemed unlikely given the score at the interval.
As it is, the Hawks slip to seventh in National 2 East and will be desperate to put things right when they welcome Havant to Dry Leas this coming Saturday, kick-off 3pm.
1. Kadeem Collins, 2. Spencer Hayhow, 3. Rory Mason ©, 4. Dan Wallis-Downham, 5. Sam Lunnon, 6. Marcus Lowe, 7. Scott White, 8. Will Benning, 9. Aidan Pugh, 10. Toby Howe, 11. Lailand Gordon, 12. Leo Webb, 13. George Wood, 14. Jamar Richardson, 15. Max Titchener
Replacements: 16. Louis Bailey, 17. Ivor Langley, 18. Roan Noone, 19. Morgan Poiner, 20. Callum Jones
Match photos courtesy of Martin Gray available to view here.
