Raiders secured a vital bonus point despite a heavy defeat to give themselves breathing space at the bottom of the league.
Five tries for Worthing were not enough against a strong Tonbridge Juddians side who crossed the whitewash nine times in a high-scoring 61-31 loss for Raiders.
Scores for Harrison Sims, Grant Gatford and Will Rawlinson were not enough to take the win away from home but Raiders will now hold a 13 point lead heading into the final three games of the season.
In a fast, open game, Raiders were placed on the back foot early when three early tries in the first 20 minutes put the visitors on the back foot and 19-0 down, writes Chris Coulson.
The home side looked dangerous when in possession and were ruthless at capitalising on any mistakes made by the visitors.
Worthing capitalised on a penalty from Tonbridge and built a forwards attack off deft lineout play. A strong scrum further cemented their set piece and centre Sims dotted down from the ensuing play.
A high box kick shortly after the restarts saw Curtis Barnes collect a favourable bounce with acres of space in front of him. The winger speeded over the line for a second score to reduce the deficit to just seven points.
Two converted tries extended the Tonbridge lead shortly after but Worthing managed to find a third score shortly before the break.
A multi-phased attack lead to a Raiders penalty deep in Tonbridge territory and, after another strong scrum, skipper Jack Forrest muscled his way over the line for the score.
Within a minute of the restart Tonbridge had scored again and Worthing made a bout of replacements to bring fresh legs and momentum.
However, a further brace from the hosts put the match firmly out of reach for the visitors.
Despite this, a good spell in attack saw sub Will Rawlinson out pace covering defenders and dive in from wide to secure the vital bonus point.
Raiders continued to make chances but after another near score found themselves on the back foot again.
Despite trying to run to defend, Will Rawlinson’s covering tackle was deemed illegal and Tonbridge were awarded a penalty try.
However, Worthing got the last laugh when veteran front-rower Grant Gatford dotted down with one hand for Raiders’ fifth try of the day.
Raiders now sit comfortably in 12th position with space above to Guernsey but also below to Wimbledon.
Worthing will return home after a break for the Easter weekend and will face top of the table Esher in a difficult fixture on April 6.
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