Dawson eyes another big Raiders performance

Raiders will go into the game looking for a hat-trick of National 1 wins, after a superb 39-34 victory at Richmond on Saturday.

Worthing led 25-10 at one stage in the first half, before Richmond fought back to lead 34-25 with 20 minutes to play. However, Raiders hit back to go back in front, before defending superbly to keep the hosts out.

Dawson was full of praise for his side afterwards and said: “We owe Henley one, and maybe that was in the back of the lads’ minds today as well. Last time we played here (at Richmond), we probably deserved to win the game but we didn’t and I think it would have been a travesty if we’d lost today.

“I felt we were the better team from start to finish and it was just a great performance and a great atmosphere.

“This is a place that has historically been very difficult for us to win at. The win was great but so was the performance and the heart to come back from that deficit – nine points down with 20 minutes to go.

“We played our way back into it and then defended for our lives at the end, so I’m a very, very proud coach today and the support we had was absolutely amazing.”