The Rattle n Hum Reef Raiders played their first game at home on Saturday against Barron Trinity. A large crowd was on hand to witness what was a very exciting match with end to end running rugby.

It was the Raiders who had the better of the attack in the first 15 minutes with a number of penalties and handling errors from Barron giving great field position to the Raiders.

But it was Barron who turned defence into attack and scored first in the corner. Then, 10 minutes later, they put another try on the Raiders and it looked like a hard day at the office.

With some luck and great cover defence it saw the Raiders hold off another two try attempts right before the half time break to go in only 12 nil down with probably a 20 point wind behind Barron.

The half time break saw the Raiders get a chance to reassess and talk about a few things that needed to happen. They responded well with great pressure applied to Barron's defence and a penalty try being awarded.

A couple of errors from the kick off saw Barron go on the attack again and post another try, and five minutes later they also took advantage of their good field position and take a penalty.

This put the score 22 to 7, but the Raiders realised that there was still plenty of time left and a midfield bomb saw their fullback spill it and Grae Gilbert on hand to pick it up and run 30 metres untouched.
 
With wind in their sails the Raiders took it a new level and started chancing their arm, being cut down short or the ball not going to hand were the only things stopping them crossing the line.

A mistake saw Barron swoop on the ball and put a few passes together and score the match winning try. Not to be out done the Raiders put the ball over the line through Tane Russell right on the hooter.

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The coach was over the moon from the commitment and spirit shown all day by the Raiders and said "Imagine what could happen if we trained and had full side each week."

Final score: Barron 29 defeated Raiders 21

The best players for the day were Keith Tesch and Mark Penfold, and the Paddys Man of the Match went to Ethan Hoffman.

Next week sees the Raiders hope to get back to their winning ways against Innisfail at home at 3pm kickoff.