Hosts way off target in Clif-hanger defeat
WORTHING were left to rue missed opportunities as Clifton snatched a narrow victory.
The visitors claimed the win courtesy of a punishing ten-minute spell in the second half that earned them 15 valuable points.
The missed opportunities stemmed from the boot as Raiders fly-half Henry Anscombe’s penalty at the end of the first-half hit a post, while there were two missed conversations from fullback Matt McLean.
Worthing’s performances will confuse head coach Jordan Turner-Hall as they were dominant in the first half, despite the low score.
Apart from one great opportunity, Clifton were unable to threaten and the coach would have been annoyed to go down to 14 men just before the interval.
However, Worthing were unable to take advantage of some decent line breaks, mainly from winger Levi Davis and debuting number eight Frank Taggart as they looked to add to McLean’s two penalties.
The second half started perfectly as Davis broke through the middle of the ruck. The ball went wide to inside centre Harrison Sims, who slipped out of a tackle to score in the corner for the first try of the game.
That score got the Rugby Park faithful rocking, but it also seemed the perfect wake-up call for the visitors as they began to dominate the game.
The pressure got to Worthing’s John Lee and the lock was sin-binned.
Number eight Brandley Talbot got the first points for the Bristol-based side, scoring under the sticks from the resulting scrum and giving Luke Cozens a simple conversion.
Raiders responded quickly as some excellent build-up play put the ball into McLean’s hands. He showed skill and quick thinking to collect his own kick and touch down.
However, the home side would be punished for not
scoring the extra points.
From the 65th minute, it was ten minutes of hell as Clifton built slowly but surely in the hosts’ half. A side-step from Marcus Nel gave the inside centre an opening to score a great team try.
Shortly after, lock Joseph Owen broke the Raiders defensive line and, as the ball went wide, the away side had a two-on-one situation that gave full-back Alex Forrester a simple try to give Clifton with the lead for the first time.
A Cozens penalty added more misery for the hosts and extended Clifton’s lead to eight points and the fly-half ’s tally to nine.
There was a late try from centre Jack Forrest, converted by McLean, but it wasn’t the great escape Turner-Hall was hoping for. He said: “Clifton came down and squeezed a tight game out it and deserved it.
“We weren’t clinical enough. We were complacent and didn’t take our chances. You can’t do that against a top-four team, so hats off to Clifton.”