Barlow disappointed after Saxons defeat

Raiders went into the clash full of confidence having collected back-to-back league wins over Cornish All Blacks and Redingensians Rams.

However, any hopes of a third successive win were dashed as they lost to a physical Saxons side.

Barlow felt Raiders’ first half display let them down. In the opening 40 minutes, both Elliott Luke and Matt Farnes were shown yellow cards and Barlow felt that was costly.

He said: “It was a disappointing defeat for us.

“I’ve only played there once before but people were saying that it’s a tough place to play.

“They are a very physical side and their pack was probably the toughest we’ve faced all season.

“In the first half, we just did not turn up.

“At one stage we were down to 13 and it was really tough.

“We could well have been further behind had it not been for some fine defending.

“But I felt that our second half showing warranted something from the game for us.

“I’d probably say that for 90 per cent of it we were camped in their half. We just couldn’t take our scoring opportunities.”

Raiders remain ninth in the table despite their defeat but wins for Saxons and Redingensians Rams leaves Worthing just seven points clear of third-from-bottom and the final relegation spot.

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