RUGBY: Raiders' James Arthur's weekly column (February 4)
I HAVE been saying since the start of the season that when we come together and play consistently to the potential we have shown in brief patches, that we would be a force to be reckoned with.
Saturday saw our best performance of the season by far, not only in attack but also defence. To a man, we harassed and out-played our opposition. You only need to read Richmond's home page on their website to see that even they agree.
The challenge now is to build on this victory, not get carried away and come out strong against tough opposition in the form of Shelford on Saturday.
A large crowd gathered to watch us play Richmond on a cold and crystal clear day.
Our forward pack dominated up front and secured ball for a back line that was on fire, and as a team we destroyed our opponents. By half-time, we had secured the four try bonus point. We had in the past struggled to come out strong in the second half.
This wasn't the case and, although we didn't match our first half performance, we did score a further three trys and, most pleasing of all, shut Richmond out. The final result of 45–3 saw us take our largest victory of the season so far and not only this, but against one of our closest rivals.
The squad saw changes in the backs, with the return of Greg Walker on to the wing. Greg Sullivan came to outside centre and Paul Dunkley to inside. Matt Mclean had his best game of the season at full back and Ben Dudley and Joe Govett impressed again with their all-round game.
The day really has to go to Adam Halsey, who led the team out on what was to be his last game for the club. Adam has been an outstanding player for the club over the last three seasons and will be sadly missed on and off the pitch. We wish him and his family all the best and hope to see him in the bar in the not too distant future.
The scores from the rest of the league saw Rosslyn Park beat Barking by a point, which makes the fight at the top of the league even closer, with Ealing taking over the top spot.
At the other end of the table, Barnes secured a valuable win again Westcombe Park and Bridgwater claimed a losing bonus point against Canterbury.
This Saturday sees us with another home game against Shelford, who are sitting one place above us and with one game in hand. We'll look to repeat the performance of last week and hope that we receive the same support, in what will be another entertaining battle.
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Weather for Worthing
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 4 C to 8 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 10 C
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