Match preview – Guernsey Raiders v Canterbury

Centre Ross Gladdish makes his first team debut at Guernsey on Saturday. The former Blackheath and Westcliff player is In the starting line-up after featuring in Pilgrims victory at Park House last week.  Scrum half Tom Williams is also handed a starting place after recovering from the shoulder injury which kept him sidelined for three months.  Tom Halliday and Ben Cooper move to the bench while the pack is unchanged from the Old Albanian game.  Back row Alex Evans is recovering from illness so has been given another week to regain full fitness before he comes into consideration.

Head Coach Matt Corker says that while he is clearly not happy with the team’s current league position he believes that we are close to getting results.  ‘We have played some good rugby in recent games but we must stop giving sides an advantage through our slow starts”, he said.    “Guernsey away always offers a unique challenge in our season. We are privileged to be able to get on a plane to go and play a game of rugby and the last few games between us have been full of drama. Last season we started strongly, forging ahead 21-0 in the first half. The second half was a very different story and ill discipline opened the door for Guernsey to come back into the game and it took a penalty try in stoppage time for us to earn a draw. The game before that, a similar driving lineout in the last few minutes earnt us a dramatic win in our promotion season. We are taking a strong squad with us this weekend across the water, and I am expecting similar fireworks to our previous meetings.” The Pilgrims have a vital Counties 2 Kent league clash at home to Vigo, one of the three sides who have narrowly beaten them this season. Kick-off is 3pm