Raiders avoid banana skin with win at Dings

Raiders had lost at the Bristol-based club in the previous three seasons but came through Saturday with a bonus-point 45-26 win to stay in pole position at the top of National 2 South.

Worthing remain 11 points clear of second-placed Redruth, who thrashed Lydney 69-0 and have two games in hand on Worthing. Third-placed Henley Hawks, who are 12 points behind Worthing, also with two games in hand, cruised to a 65-14 over bottom-of-the-table Barking and fourth-placed Hartpury College beat Chinnor 52-7.

Dawson said: “It was a good win. Obviously, our record down there hasn’t been great and it was our first win there for a few years.

“It was a pleasing result and a pleasing performance as it was very much a potential banana skin game going into it as we’d lost there last year and the previous year.

“I was very impressed with the way they played at Roundstone Lane earlier in the season and they’ve improved massively from last year, so I was very happy to come away with the points.”

Full report in this week’s paper.