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Plymouth Raiders opened their return to competitive action this past weekend with a full house at the Life Centre as they knocked out Portsmouth Force 79-77 in a closely fought National Cup First Round contest that went down to the final seconds. Raiders' Head Coach Gareth Laws was delighted by his team's battling performance, despite leading throughout much of the game by 10 points, only for Portsmouth to take the lead in the final 3 minutes of the 4th quarter. Coach Laws said "It was a great game for the fans but we allowed Portsmouth to close the gap on us and take the game to the wire after a strong first half performance. We'll learn from it and go to Gloucester on Sunday knowing if we play our game, we have a good chance to get the result."
Raiders play their first National League fixture this Sunday away at Gloucester Kings against former Raiders player/coach Jay Marriott.
