Redruth 13, Old Redcliffians 0

Redruth battled to a win in this West Country derby against Old Redcliffians in a game dictated by the windy conditions and occasional rain, writes Bill Hooper.

Old Reds will feel a little aggrieved that they didn’t come away with a point given the amount of possession and territory they enjoyed but they came up against a tenacious Redruth defence who were in no mood to concede anything.

From the off it quickly developed into a scrappy affair with the referee’s whistle constantly sounding. The rucks were a mess with bodies all over the shop.

Genuine try-scoring chances were in short supply and as the first half wore on it looked like the score-board would remain blank.

However, yet another penalty was just close enough to tempt Redruth fly-half Fraser Honey from the 30 metre mark after 33 minutes, his fine kick registering the first points of the game to give Redruth a 3-0 half-time lead.

The second half followed a familiar pattern going from set-piece to set-piece. With nothing much on from yet another period of possession Honey decided to chance a drop-goal which sailed between the uprights to double the lead.

That lifted the crowd, soon they had more to cheer as an evergreen Chris Fuca suddenly found himself in space heading for the try-line. Full-back Matt Shepherd was in support and he took the inside pass to romp in under the post with Honey adding the extras to complete the scoring.

Old Reds put in a big effort to try and salvage something during the final quarter, going very close but the Redruth defence was rock-solid and saw the game out.

Redruth Director of rugby Nigel Hambly was satisfied with the win given the conditions.

He said: “I thought we much more focused this week, we needed to be given the pressure we under at times. Our defence was again excellent and when they came we took our chances.”

Redruth are on the road next week with a trip to Clifton, which will be a big test for Hambly’s side.

Redruth: Shepherd, Bonds, Simmons, Gilbert, Janes, Honey, Oulton; Phillips, Brown, Williams, Pascoe, Prisk, Fuca, Grubb, Fox (Capt). Reps: Ma’asi, Tompsett, Hodge, Brassington, Cummins.

Redruth scores: Try - Shepherd; Con - Honey; Pen - Honey; Dgl - Honey.