The Raiders re-commenced training in April and provided three players - Nigel East, Sam Woolacott and Jose Casanova – for the Devon squad to compete in the inaugural South West County Championship at Bristol. The day resulted in three wins out of four for the county side and an invitation to Woolacott and East to represent the South West in the Regional Championships at Derby later in the month.

Results were still not going the Raiders way, with a 22-16 lead against the Devon Sharks at Pottington reversed to a 58-30 loss followed by a heavy defeat at the hands of the East Devon Eagles at Exmouth.

Another first half lead was lost at Plymouth in a league and cup double header before the East Devon Eagles completed a double in North Devon to leave the Raiders firmly at the foot of the table.

A lack of available players meant the game in Torquay was conceded to the Devon Sharks before four points were awarded to the Raiders due to the withdrawal of the South Somerset Warriors and the no show of the South Dorset Giants.

The four week break seemed to reinvigorate the Raiders and, despite shipping twelve tries in the visit from the Somerset Vikings, the signs were beginning to appear that the elusive first win would soon come.

That came on Pilton’s “Green Man” day as the Raiders overwhelmed a below strength Exeter Centurions 82-24 on a windy Pottington Number 2 pitch. With the unusual backdrop of Barnstaple RFC’s Caravan Club meet on the main pitch, an interested crowd, including a number of caravanners, saw the home side record their first league victory in thirteen attempts.

The momentum continued the following week, as the Plymouth Titans fell to the rampant Raiders 48-30 in a hard fought encounter. The win meant a fourth place finish for North Devon in a season which finished just as they were hitting a vein of form.

At the Club’s end of season dinner at the Honey Moon on The Strand, Mikey Sumner was awarded Player of the Year whilst Nigel East received the Clubman of the Year award.

Nigel East made his third representative appearance of the year when he pulled on the green jersey of Devon in the County Challenge against Cornwall at Penzance’s Mennaye Field. The visitors won an entertaining game before a crowd of around 400 at the home of Cornish Rugby Union and East’s performance was almost completed with a try after he raced fifty yards with seconds remaining in the second half before being cut down feet from the try line.

In November, an encouraging AGM, held at Club sponsors Monkey Island on Castle Street, saw the appointment of an expanded committee, led by new Chairman Mikey Sumner to take the Club into its’ third season.