THE Lake Cathie Raiders proved too strong for the South West Rocks Marlins last Saturday, prevailing 36-34 in a nail biter at the ‘Sandpit’.

The long weekend fixture had been rescheduled due to wet weather in recent weeks, and both sides took no time getting into the holiday game.

A try from the Raiders’ Olly Nosworthy drew first blood, however the Marlins’ Raymond Chapman wasted no time in replying, crossing the line immediately afterwards to even up the scores at 6-6.

The first half continued with an exchange of tries from both teams, alongside impressive defensive efforts.

Heading into half time, the Raiders held the advantage at 16-12, with the points continuing to flow in the second half.

In a game that went right down to the wire, just two points separated the sides at full time, the match ending 36-34 in favour of the Raiders.

The loss was the Marlins’ fourth in a row, while the Raiders entered the match coming off a recent win against the Comboyne Tigers.

Marlins coach Grant Schubert praised both teams’ efforts and resilience, and congratulated the Raiders on their win.

“It was a great game of footy to watch, especially for the crowd,” he said.

Schubert knew it would be a tough test for the Marlins, making the trip down to Lake Cathie with only fourteen players, allowing them just one sub on the bench.

“The players knew they couldn’t come off today which meant they had to dig deep for each other and this made the game extremely tough, especially for some of the bigger boys out on the field,” Schubert said.

Raiders captain/coach Sean Barrett was extremely pleased to take the win.

“The end result could have gone either way but the boys dug deep and didn’t let the game get away from them,” Barrett told NOTA.

Barratt reserved particular praise for the performance of Kagan Farrawell-Hyde, expressing pride at how he handled himself on the field.

Try scorers for the Raiders were Olly Nosworthy, Kagan Farrawell-Hyde, Aaron Shepard, Ben Myles, Ned Goodwin (2) and Tom Barker (2).

Try scorers for South West Rocks were Raymond Chapman, Byron Stanton Kelly, Lionel Lockwood, Robbie Colquhoun and Rhys Owens (2).

After their recent wins the Raiders are proving to be a formidable opponent for any team on their day.

The Raiders leapfrog the Marlins into fourth position on the ladder.

The teams face off again on Saturday at South West Rocks, when the Marlins are expected to be back to full strength.

By Kim AMBROSE