Exactly 364 days previous to Saturday the Urunga Raiders were at Goonellabah to play their first trial match of 2015. It didn’t go so well either that day down 3-2 in a tight and physical match played under the blowtorch of a Northern summer. Fast forward to 2016 and clubs meet again this time at Urunga under rain filled skies and a much different result with the Raiders cruising to a 4-0 win after leading 1-0 at the break.
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The Raiders had several new players on show, including Luke France, Ben Sonter, Tim Ruprecht and a returning Harry Gale. It was the first opportunity that new Raider’s coach Peter Tiberius Snow has had to cast a weathered eye over the new lads and what he saw must’ve pleased him.
It was the Raiders from the outset in this one barring a few errant passes they looked slick and imperious both in possession and defending. With Michael McCormick and Henry Gale at the heart of the Raider’s defence the home side were first on the scoreboard after five minutes. A Ben Dooley corner met on the far post by Luke France’s melon, to be honest it looked like a set play and the Hornets were well prepared but France seemed to find exactly the right position at exactly the right time to give the home side the early lead.
After the break and with Goonellabah scrambling defensively they managed to turn the ball into their own net to make it 2-0. It looked like the Raiders might score anyway a succession of shots peppering the Hornets keeper who could do little else than parry the ball out of goal. Fabrice Wamara let the first shot go with the rebound falling to Jai Waddick and his shot rebounding to a Goonellabah defender whose hurried clearance rebounded unluckily off a fellow Hornet and into the net.
The Raiders third followed shortly thereafter. It came from a right side move and looked simplistic, rehearsed even as the Raider’s moved the ball quickly down the right flank via Lachlan Indian Manning. The Hornets defence sliding to the right left some space on the left for Craig Simpson aka ‘the turtle’ to exploit and as Waddick’s cross whipped through a vacant penalty area turtle side footed in the Raiders third and his first for the 2016 season.
The Goonellabah Hornets at this point were attacking only sporadically and usually on the back of a Raider error. They had two clear chances to score in this half but Sonter was equal to the task on both occasions looking balanced and in control in the Raiders goal.
The final goal to Tim Ruprecht after a move that involved most of the home side finished by Ruprecth from the top of the box with a blazing right foot shot to give a final 4 zip scoreline. A solid result for the Raiders with the only blip being a late ankle injury to Ben Dooley.
In the earlier reserve grade fixture the Raiders ran out 4-0 winners with goals to Andrew Trist, Jack Martin, Sam Sawtell and Scott Livingstone, the Raiders 1-0 at the break in that one. The next trial game will be at Kempsey against the Kempsey Rangers Saturday, February 20 and it should be another solid test for the Raiders.
Tom Campbell