A fast start by Guernsey consigned Westcombe Park to their first defeat in 4 games. It was also the first time this season that Combe had been outscored on the try front, conceding six while marking four of their own.

The Raiders struck first early on when Jon Dawe took a great line off the back of a lineout and touched down. Player of the match and fellow centre Ciaran McGann hit the conversion. Elliott Roofe backed up his hat-trick of tries from a fortnight ago with Combe’s first try after the ball had been trucked up a couple of times by his mates in the pack. Max Brown levelled the scores with the conversion.

But Guernsey put some daylight between the sides with tries from Antony Armstrong and Charlie Simmonds the former showing quite a turn of pace out wide and the latter on hand to grab a neat off load and run in under the posts. McGann scored the try bonus with a clever move off the back of an advancing Guernsey scrum and his two conversions made the task facing the visitors pretty steep at 26-7.

Combe narrowed the difference with high scoring scrum half Mikel Davies setting off on a mazy run crossing the line and, when winger Kieran Thompson scored after the ball was moved quickly down the line, Combe were 9 points behind when the half-time whistle blew at 26-17 in favour of Guernsey.

The Raiders kept the visitors at arm’s length when they scored early in the second period a try from Rutledge exploiting a narrow blindside at the lineout restoring the difference. Flanker Harry Hudson secured Combe’s bonus point try touching down at the back of a forward rumble Despite pressing Combe failed to find that cutting edge and it was Guernsey who put the match to bed, McGann rounding off an excellent performance with his second try spotting a hole in the visiting defence. He converted his own score bringing his personal tally to 18 points.

Combe will have to wait a couple of weeks to put the disappointment behind then as next week is a rest week. Barnes are Goddington Dene’s next visitors on 8 November.