Presentation Day, Sunday 22nd July - All day

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Presentation Day 22nd July - 12:00

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Raiders - Heroes in defence

Montage of Raiders defence and midfield

Raiders Gold Pics from Mini-Tournament

Raiders Gold miss out due to a slow start in hot weather, but end the tournament with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Saints to show that when pride is at stake - Raiders are at their best !

Twyford sneak in unmarked to score , but The Boss is still smiling !

Raiders pre-match "Huddle" and Books heads for his half-time bottle

Charlie showing focus and Archie launches a big throw

Saints keeper lets it slip ! Danny's knockout punch nearly flattens attacker

Josh gets his mum's water torture and has an immediate energy boost !

Raiders get their well deserved medals and Sam in action

RAIDERS BLACK IN SPIRITED FIGHT BACK

Saturday 2nd June 2007

Rotherfield Raiders Black 4 - 4 Woodley Hammers B

The Raiders Black squad was once again punished after a slow start which cost them an early goal and put them on the back foot. After only 1 minute, the Raiders found themselves with players out of position which created a simple chance for the Hammers No. 6 who easily slotted the ball home.

The early goal seemed to wake up the Raiders, and after a period of sustained pressure and some good efforts on goal from Louis Walsh & Max Sweetman, it was Chris Miller who finished a superb individual run by rounding the keeper and leveling the score. The attacking combination of Max, Louis and Chris dominated the next 10 mins of the game with numerous shots on goal, but they weren’t able to further capitalize.

After 14 mins, Chris Miller was replaced up front by Matty Chapman. But after all the domination of the first half by the Raiders, they somehow ended up conceding two goals in the last 2 minutes of the half – one from a well struck shot into the bottom right hand side of Liam Peachey’s goal and the second from a very unlucky ricochet off the Hammers No.4 after Will Young tried to clear under pressure. The 3-1 advantage to the Hammers at half time was not a good reflection of the Raiders performance.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first with another Hammers goal, which was given away cheaply. With the score at 4-1 down, the Raiders heads could have easily dropped, but thankfully this was the catalyst for a spirited Raiders fight back.

After the Hammers 4th goal, the renewed Raiders teamwork, passion and confidence paid off with two quick goals from James Back. The first was a simple tap-in after a goal mouth scramble and the second was blistering free-kick which sailed into the top right hand corner of the Hammers goal. James was unlucky not to get a hatrick, after a corner kick from him seemed to curl straight into the Hammers goal, however the referee gave a goal kick after ruling that the ball had dropped through a gap in the top of the net.

With both teams tiring in the hot sun, it became a real end-to-end tussle. Solid defensive work between Kai Carlisle and an out of position right back Chris Miller (after Will Young limped off) was matched by some fine saves by Liam Peachey in the Raiders goal.

With 3 minutes remaining, the Raiders completed their well deserved comeback after a Matty Chapman confidently rounded the keeper and levelled the score.

The final minutes created few chances from either team, however the 4-4 score made for a great match and was a real credit to both teams. Chris Miller was named man of the match after a fine first half display, a goal and solid performance in the defence in the 2nd half.


Team: Liam Peachey, Will Young, Kai Carlisle, James Back, Louis Walsh, Max Sweetman, Chris Miller, Matty Chapman

Gallery

Some images from Saturdays game. ( click the image to see full size downloadable image )
If you have good ones you would like to post just email SimonB and you can login and post.


Charlie showing her skills and Josh anticipates a header

Raiders defence focus on the ball , coach Andy administers 1/2 time refreshment !

Will made a succesful comeback and the Manager looks on

Charlie reading the play .. a great punched clearance from Danny against Wanderers

Sam during warm up and Booksie with a throw-in

Mums United looking relaxed and Ben gets his Effort award

Danny faces the raiders attack during warm up and James at shooting practice

Raiders attract fans of all ages !

Near Miss For Raiders At Wanderers Finishing School !

Rotherfield Raiders Gold (2) – Woodley Wanderers (4)

Perhaps the most compelling and competitive game of the summer league for Raiders Gold. Raiders had a great start with Chapman going close inside the 1st minute. Young looked composed returning from injury and Back was solid in defence. Then Lady Luck intervened with a cruel blow as Back’s clearance struck the centre forward’s boot to ricochet past Docherty to open the scoring.
Silky touches and from Street and accurate distribution from Estcourt lead to Chapman striking just over the bar and Peirson-Hagger went close. But Woodley dominated the midfield and a breakaway led to the 2nd goal with a cool finish.
Undeterred Raiders competed well and Gay’s pass found Peirson-Hagger to slam into the top corner with Raider’s comeback goal at 2-1.
Half-time oranges did the trick as Raiders as started the 2nd half brightly with tight defence and two great saves from Dockree including a great punched clearance. Moments later Back shot just past the post after another pinpoint pass from Street. But the bubble burst when Raiders failed to clear a corner making it 3-1.
Again Raiders showed grit and determination as Peirson-Hagger spread it wide to Estcourt who characteristically thundered the ball into the top corner to pull it back to 3-2.
With 10 minutes to go Raiders had their best spell of the game ; Chapman’s cutout stopped a certain goal and Gay showed great skills at the back with Booker looking strong. The Raiders were on fire – Peirson-Hagger twice went close and the keeper somehow plucked the ball out of mid-air to deny Chapman a goal.
As Raiders pushed forward Wanderers converted a “2 on 1” in the dying seconds to give a 4-2 scoreline that didn’t reflect a fabulous match but rather some clinical finishing .
The effort award went to Peirson-Hagger for starting the comeback goal and work rate.

Team: Danny Dockree, James Back, Will Young, Josh Gay, Sam Booker, Charlie Estcourt, Ben Peirson-Hagger, Mathew Chapman.