It was the Scorpions first hit-out of the year and they looked sharp in the opening exchanges, with Jake Glover zipping around the park aided by ex-Raider Thomas Frewen.

The Raiders were adjusting to the tempo of the match when a defensive mix up gifted the Scorpions the first goal.

If the strike concerned the Raiders it didn’t show as they dominated possession, switching the play constantly, searching for a chink in the Scorpions’ defence. It was an absorbing contest, as Sawtell reacted with impressive speed to a probing Raiders outfit right up until Frabrice Wamara was released on the right by a Sam Sawtell pass.

On the back of his brace against Goonellabah the previous weekend, Wamara outpaced the Scorpions flanker then went through Frewen to fire one past the diving Sawtell keeper Ben Sonter for the equaliser.

It’s said that Jake Leslie would not go to bed as a young nipper unless there were a couple of old ratty footballs in there with him such is his love of the beautiful game and he lit up the pitch in the second stanza. After 11 minutes of Raider pressure and the Scorpions in possession, Dom Kelly was able to win the ball back for the Raiders with an uncompromising tackle to release Leslie down the right flank. Now Leslie took off after that ball like it was the one he’d slept with all those years ago. He rounded one diving defender, slid inside the next and ripped in a right foot snorter from 23 metres to give the Raiders the lead.

It was a brilliant strike and Raiders seemed to lift on the back of it. Hopper created the next chance after he intercepted a Scorpion pass and quickly found the Turtle on the left side - Turtle volleying Hopper’s pass from range and only a top shelf save from Sonter prevented another score.

The last third produced three more goals for the home side  as the Scorpions who had burned a lot of petrol in the first hour containing the Raider midfield of Hopper, Dooley and Grant ‘red bags’ Homes began to melt like ice cream on a hot day.

Jai Waddick was first to score after he connected with Homes’ pass - closing on goal and deceiving the keeper.

It was Waddick who served up the next goal as well this time from a corner. The ball found Dom Kelly lurking on the far post and his header floated back across and toward the top of the Scorpion’s penalty area to where Sam Sawtell was winding up his right leg.  Sawtell (as in Sam) thumped that ball just like you’d like to thump a politician sometimes  - bang into the net from 21 metres.

The final goal and the last kick of the game came from Kale Hopper who threaded his way through the now melted Sawtell defence and slapped it into the string in the final seconds of the match to give a final 5-1 scoreline.

There was plenty there for the Sawtell lads to contemplate - they’d toiled well for most of the afternoon but didn’t create the finishing opportunities the Raiders did as the scoreline indicated.

Goals from five players would please Urunga coach Pomroy - the Raiders looked a more cohesive outfit than their last start and we can’t wait for the next match which will be versus Kempsey in March. Go to Urunga Football.com for more information on that match.

In the earlier game the Raiders were successful 6-1. The highlight, a Cale Simmonds hat-trick; also a brace to Jake Ashleigh and one to Andrew Trist. Good signs there for the Raiders with Jackson Lindsay, Nipper Orr and Tommy ‘the red machine’ Willet as standouts.

Tom Campbell