AN ideal start to 2015 was made by Redruth with a three tries to one win over Cambridge at the Rec on Saturday, writes Roger Watson.
Head coach Steve Larkins was unable to take his seat in the dugout after the flight he due to board back to Cornwall from a festive holiday was delayed.
He did manage to get back to the sidelines just before the final whistle blew, by which time he would have been delighted with the scoreboard reading 17-7 in favour of the hosts who scored all their points in the opening half.
Having been forced to follow updates on his car radio, Larkins said after the match: “It sounded like a good first half performance and a dogged second half.
“It was the win we wanted though and now we are looking forward to climbing up the table in 2015.”
The Reds produced an electrifying first forty minutes which proved to be enough to seal a hard fought win with the foundations being laid by their forward supremacy.
With the advantage of the slope, the home side played some exhilarating rugby with scrum-half Greg Goodfellow enjoying himself behind his dominant pack and finding space for his trademark sniping runs.
Man-of-the-match Damien Cook had a field day in both the line-out and mauls and was ably supported by the rest of the forwards.
The Reds showed their intention to move the ball from the outset, but the first two tries both came from line-out drives with skipper Chris Fuca touching down twice and Brett Rule’s conversion attempts going wide on each occasion.
Rule had a chance to extend the lead with a penalty but once again his kick went astray.
A few minutes later, Fuca had to leave the field to go to hospital with a hand injury and it was his replacement, John Stevens, staying up on Goodfellow’s shoulder, who went in under the posts for the third try, which this time Rule kicked home to add the extras.
Completely in control with Goodfellow and Rhodri McAtee’s kicking games working effectively, the bonus point try before half-time seemed likely.
Goodfellow and Lewis Vinnicombe linked well to open up Cambridge’s defence twice, but the fourth try eluded them.
After the break, proceedings changed direction with Cambridge looking much improved with most of the territory and possession.
A fine line break by scrum-half Ross Kevan should have led to a try, but he opted to kick the ball instead of making the scoring pass to his winger.
Minutes later Rule made a superb try saving tackle, but despite some determined defending, sustained Cambridge pressure saw Steve Hipwell break through to score and James Stokes kicked a simple conversion.
With ten minutes remaining, the Reds pressed hard for the fourth try, turning down a kickable penalty to give the pack the opportunity to drive over from the line-out, but the visitors’ defence held firm.
Sam Parsons, who took over the captain’s duties when Fuca was forced to leave the action, enjoyed the tough encounter.
“We played the conditions well,” he said.
“Our kicking game was excellent and the pack was dominant throughout.
“We’ve been talking a lot about defence so it was pleasing to keep them to one try in the second half.
“We pushed for the bonus point try and obviously it would have been nice to get it but a win is the perfect start to the year.”
REDRUTH: 15 Rule, 14 Vinnicombe, 13 Webber, 12 Parsons, 11 Kessell, 10 McAtee (Rutter 66), 9 Goodfellow; 1 Phillips (Southworth 78), 2 Brown, 3 Drew (Williams 51), 4 Cook, 5 Collins, 6 Fuca (c, Stevens 26), 7 Priddey (Marriot 51), 8 Hambly (Priddey 66).
TRIES: Fuca (5, 20), Stevens (34).
CONS: Rule 1/3.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Damien Cook.
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