RAIDERS SHOW GREATER POISE

 ALL GOLDS CLS 24 – 26 WEST WALES RAIDERS

The Raiders escaped from Cheltenham with a narrow two point win as they showed just enough composure at the end to frustrate the All Golds and ensure that the home side could not build on the territory and possession they had.

The All Golds have only themselves to blame as they twice held ten-point leads but frittered them away with careless handling and ill-discipline.
The heavens opened just before the start of the game, which perhaps excused some of the handling errors but not all as the defence from both sides was fierce.
After ten mistake-filled minutes, the visitors took the lead with a straightforward passing move that ended with Morgan Morgan Jefferies scoring.
Harry Kidd powered over eight minutes later, Archie Gibbs putting the All Golds ahead with the conversion. Rowland Kaye dived in at the corner to put the Raiders back in front almost immediately but the All Golds were ahead at the break thanks to Luke Stephens who scored from close range.
A flurry of tries early in the second period saw the All Golds build then lose potentially match-winning leads as the Raiders just wouldn’t lie down.
Dale Walters capitalised on a Raiders mistake three minutes into the second period, Gibbs’ goal easing the home side out to an 18-8 lead, but Morgan Jefferies smashed through the middle and sent prop Jonny Rees striding away to the line.
Luke Williams’ goal cut the deficit to four points but Callum Bradbury’s charge from 20 metres out restored the All Golds’ ten-point advantage straight away.
The Raiders were next to score, though Dafydd Phillips seemed to knock on at dummy half before driving over.
Both sides then lost their fullbacks to the sin-bin after a brief flare up but the scoring continued as, six minutes later, Kyle Bryan got the crucial score to put the Raiders ahead as he crashed through the defence to touch down and Williams nudged the Raiders into a two-point lead.
Now playing catch-up, the All Golds found the conditions against them as the slippery ball proved tough to handle and though they received plenty of possession through Raiders’ indiscipline, they could not threaten the line with it.
Their best chance came and went when Sam Hodge was ruled to have lost the ball in the tackle after breaking the line with two minutes remaining.

Teams:
ALL GOLDS: Kieran Webb; Aedan Coleman, Jack Uren, Sam Hodge, Dale Walters; Archie Gibbs, James Watkins; Callum Bradbury, Luke Stephens, James Walter; Jack Binks, Chris True (Capt.); Harry Kidd; INTERCHANGE: George Bidwell-Ford, Ryan Solomon, Mitchell Dent, Connor Jones.
Scorers:
Tries; Harry Kidd (20), Luke Stephens (31), Dale Walters (43), Callum Bradbury (52),
Goals; Archie Gibbs 4 from 4

RAIDERS: Shane Edwards; Curtis Ford, Alex Keeton, Josh Taylor, Rowland Kaye; Luke Williams (Capt), Daf Daniel; Jonny Rees, Daf Phillips, Murphy Holt; Archie Snook, Tom Tom T Stratford; Morgan Jefferies; INTERCHANGE: Kyle Bryan, Ben Dennis Rees, Aaron Lewis, Scott Rhys Davies
Scorers:
Tries; Morgan Jefferies (12), Rowland Kaye (24), Jonny Rees (49), Daf Phillips (56), Kyle Bryan (66)
Goals; Luke Williams 3 from 5