RUGBY: Worthing target must-win game at Havant

Raiders lost to high-flying Ealing on Saturday and dropped to third from bottom but they travel to bottom-of-the-table Havant this Saturday. Home games against runaway leaders London Scottish and Lydney then follow, before Raiders finish their season at Bridgwater.

Other than Worthing, all of the teams fighting the drop managed at least a bonus point on Saturday. Bridgwater beat Havant 13-10 and Lydney won 27-25 at Chinnor, but Davies believes Raiders' fate is very much still in their own hands.

He said: "Havant getting a losing bonus point doesn't help them as they will need to take maximum points from all their remaining games.

"But Lydney's win at Chinnor was a bit of a surprise as Chinnor have been in good form as of late.

"We need to go to Havant to win, and win well this weekend. Scottish will then be a very hard match but a win over Lydney should be enough for us.

"With those results, we should be able to go into our last game against Bridgwater to just enjoy our rugby.

"I really don't want to go into the last weekend needing a win to stay up."

Worthing failed to build on the impressive win at Dings Crusaders last Saturday against third-place Ealing.

Davies agreed he was expecting more from the game but said: "After going up there and suffering a heavy 53-6 defeat, if someone had offered me a 26-7 defeat at home, I would have taken it.

"It was a poor performance in the first half but we came out in the second and played well.

"We were never going to win, but a losing bonus point would have reflected a fair result."

Right from the start, Worthing were giving away penalties which cost them territory, reports Mike Rice.

It was this failure to settle quickly that Ealing were able to take advantage of as early as the fourth minute when the defence seemed to allow their visitors to amble through. They went under the posts for a converted try.

Even the restart from that was slovenly, but they then settled down and started to be more constructive in their kicking for position.

Raiders now proceeded to put in some really strong drives '“ but at a cost. Hooker Mickey Pointing had to be helped from the field on the quarter-hour.

Ealing, furthermore, were looking to dominate the line-out, where Charlie McGowan's height and influence were missed.

Skipper Jody Levett was working like a terrier to try to lift his side, but the play was flat '“ with the ball going down the line '“ but when Worthing were stopped it seemed they had gained little or no territory.

In defence, they tackled well but skilful handling by Ealing meant their second try could not be prevented. Heads seemed to drop as half-time approached, and the hosts leaked a third score.

Worthing came out for the second half determined to put the pressure on the Londoners, and although they played much of the game in Ealing's half, it seemed that last-second errors, such as a knock-on, ruined good running.

Ealing, although on the defensive, were the more fluent side and, while the Worthing scrum began to dominate, scrum-half Joe Govett's delivery was not at its best under pressure from Ealing's flankers.

Will Harris showed a good pair of heels getting Raiders' only try, but the match ended with their defence stretched to breaking by a well-worked Ealing try.

WORTHING: Marshall; Maslen, Harris, Wilson, Coulson; Dudley, Govett; Storer, Pointing, Marler, Lawski, Coulter, Levett (capt), Redmayne, Jones. Subs: Blumberg (Pointing 15), Arthur (Levett 40), Smith (Marler 65), Burns, Sargeant.

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