Thursday, August 24, 2023

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

Raiders Rise To The Occasion

Proserpine Whitsunday Raiders hosted the Slade Point Rugby club at home on Saturday in front of a good home crowd.

It was a first half battle for both teams, neither giving an inch in attack nor defence, with Slade Point repelling four attempts by the Raiders to cross the line and coming close themselves on a number of occasions.

Half time saw the scoreboard reading nil all with 40 mins to go and it wasn’t until the 49th when Raiders left wing Rhys Ward got a pass from the base of a ruck in our own 22.

Ward put the foot down to get past his opposite number, side stepping the cover defence and flying down the sideline before a little kick chase to get around the fullback and came away with the first try.

A great individual display of his skills, converted by Niall Clancy and the raiders led seven-nil until the 57th.

Slade Point crossed the line and made the score 7 all and the game was again in the balance until Raiders’ fullback Jack Briskey crossed the line in the 65th, taking it to 14 -7.

The 74th minute saw the Slade boys cross the line again for a 14-12 scoreline.

It took the Raiders until the last five minutes of the game to show some ascendancy and put another two on the board to end the game as a 26-12 hard fought win.

Raiders sit top of the MRU competition table and head into the game against Moranbah Bulls at the Sportspark this coming Saturday.

And next weekend, the Sportspark will hold the Anzac triple-header, an expanded competition on Saturday, April 22.

Featuring six clubs – Moranbah Bulls, Kuttabul Boks, Whitsunday Raiders, Mackay Cities, Brothers Mackay and Bowen Mudcrabs - there will be plenty to look forward to over the three games, in what is no doubt one of the biggest game days of the season.

Contributed with thanks to Craig Spence

The Proserpine Whitsunday Raiders had a tough-fought win against Slade Point last weekend

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