A fixture originally scheduled for December, it was blown off course by Storm Darragh on that Saturday and attempts to play it the following day did not come to fruition.

The feeling at the time was that Guernsey would store the frustration of that weekend to use as extra motivation for when the match finally went ahead, but their director of rugby dismissed that suggestion when it was put to him.

‘At the time we were frustrated as a club and as a team, but we have not thought or even spoken about it this week,’ said Jordan Reynolds.

‘We have got enough things we have to sort out on our side rather than look to go into the game with the wrong intentions because of something that happened a couple of months ago.’

The major issue his troops need to rectify is their recent disciplinary problem which has proved costly in the defeats at Barnes and, more particularly, when they lost their unbeaten home record to Old Albanians a week ago.

‘We were pretty deflated about our performance against Old Albanians. We have put in some really amazing performances at home this season and that one did not hit the mark,’ Reynolds said.

‘Overall, our discipline has been pretty good this season, but if you look at the last two weeks, against Barnes 8-1 was the penalty count against us at half-time and then on Saturday against OAs it was 7-1 after only 12 minutes against us.

‘We are just conpounding a penalty with another three or four, and that’s definitely something that has just happened in the last couple of weeks.

‘The thing is we are getting on the wrong side of the referee early on and then spending the next 30 minutes trying to get him back on side.

‘For the game last week, we only gave away 11 penalties in total, so virtually 70% of those have come in the first 12 minutes. The problem is when you start like that and you are trying not to concede penalties after that, you end up doing everything really safe, you are not on the edge and putting pressure on the other team.’

As if to test the Raiders mentality, today’s opponent play in a ‘very similar’ manner to OAs accord to Reynolds.

‘They play a high-tempo with quick taps and are pretty loose in attack. To defend against a team like that is never an easy task because you have got to be switched on at all times,’ he said.

‘We have got to be tight defensively and maybe it was poor coaching from us, but we did not get our shape right last week. Hopefully we will be a bit more connected this time.’
Although Colchester currently prop up the National Two East table with just one win from 18 games, Raiders will not be taking them lightly.

‘When you look at teams sitting towards the bottom, if you treat them as such, you are going to get your pants pulled down! Last year we knocked off a lot of sides because we were lower down the table and they underestimated us.

‘With Colchester, you see enough quality in their performances and you know that they are desperate for points and wins, so that means they will challenge you for the full 80 minutes.’

Match Day Programme: https://www.zeeon.co.uk/gamehubplus/guernsey-raiders-vs-colchester-2