The Under 16 Raiders were looking to put in a good performance against TAS Whiterock to avenge the Under 14 and Under 12 losses from earlier in the evening.
 
TAS kicked off and it was a vigorous start as expected at this level to see who would dominate proceedings.

Ten minutes in TAS mauled well up the middle of the Raiders' half between the 10m and 22m, but the Raiders managed to stop this push. TAS pushed again in the next five minutes and their flyhalf chipped into space, but it came to nothing.

Raiders defended well and this continued through the whole game. They looked good and wanted to play.

From broken play Raiders' skipper Aiden Chesterfield broke clear up the middle of the field from his 22 to over the TAS 10m where he was slowed while trying to keep it secure waiting for his support and the ball was knocked on.

TAS took the scrum and started working their way back towards Raiders' line, but were penalised and the Raiders cleared to TAS' 22m. The Raiders got the following lineout wrong and TAS capitalised.

Their No. 4 had a great run towards the left to the Raiders' 22m and took some stopping. TAS applied more pressure from the ensuing loose, but Raiders' midfield, Brett Letcher, cut down the next phase in front of the posts 15m out.

Raiders turned this over and drew another penalty which Brendan Nastase cleared to the TAS 10m. Good interplay from the lineout saw Raiders moving up the centre and Aiden Chesterfield again leading from the front finally crashed through on the 15m line to the right of the posts.

Brendan Nastatse did the formality conversion and at 23 minutes Raiders were 7-0 up. TAS came back with a vengeance and surged down field with their No.8 having a good run. Their flyhalf went over left of the Raiders' posts.

He also converted the extra points while the Raiders' charge down just missed his kick. 7-7 at 25 minutes and the game was on.

TAS knocked on from the kick-off which put the Raiders in a good attacking spot.  A high tackle on Raiders' No. 13 “Rusty” drew a penalty which was taken quickly and passing left meant Aiden Chesterfield went over again. Brendan Nastase missed the conversion. 12-7 and half time.

A great high kick from the Raiders' Nastase was the restart for the second period. Raiders retrieved it and moved across and back without penetrating.

They got another penalty which TAS turned over in the ensuing mauling, and cleared to the Raiders 10m which saw fullback Chase Lee turning to collect it and made a fine run back towards the TAS posts where he was pulled up on TAS 10m.

Interplay saw Brady MacFarlen collect a high tackle and a penalty. A quick tap was taken and the Raiders worked it up close to TAS' line where they knocked it on.

TAS cleared to the 10m from this scrum. Raiders lineout worked well and No. 10 Nastase put up a bomb which TAS knocked on 15m out. Raiders pressured for the next few minutes and drew another penalty 5m out.

Brett Letcher took it quickly and dove over to score to the right of the posts. Nastase chipped the conversion for a 19-7 Raiders lead 12 minutes into second half.
 
The next few minutes were locked up territory wise. Raiders had a scrum on their 10m, which McFarlen at No.9 broke with and drove up over the halfway.

Raiders were penalised for not releasing the ball on the ground. TAS kicked a good touch to their right with a lineout 10m out the result.  They worked hard and well off the lineout and scored about 15m from the touch line.  

TAS' No. 15 missed the kick and found himself sent off for 10mins after back chatting the referee with the score on 19-12.

Raiders had a penalty from the restart, but managed to get caught not releasing again. The really good contest continued back and forth and TAS rucked the Raiders off the ball, but lost it in the next phase.

Raiders drove up in response and drew a penalty. TAS put pressure back on but were penalised and Raiders cleared to TAS 10m. They drove up again and TAS was caught playing the ball on the ground in a kickable spot.

Nastase clipped it over and the final whistle went. 22-12 to the Raiders.
 
This is their third win for the season and they are pleases with their progress. The whole team stepped up to play and were rewarded with a good win.

Aiden Chesterfield was picked as “Man of the match”. Thanks to Sam from Port Putt Putt for sponsoring the man of the match. Brendan Nastase was mentioned as the best back and Brett Letcher as the best forward.