Henley Hawks 21, Redruth 17

Club skipper Richard Brown’s converted second half try was enough to give the Reds a losing bonus point from their trip to Dry Leas, writes Bill Hooper.

Prop Jess Tompsett led Redruth out on the occasion of his 100th appearance for the club.

Redruth welcomed back Jack Oulton from injury, he came on during the second half to make his usual impact.

The Reds made a great start as wing Dean Bonds latched on to a Henley pass deep in his own half to sprint in for an unconverted try.

Redruth had to soak up a lot pressure during the opening quarter of the game, it eventually told after 17 minutes when they lost No.8 Sam Stevens to the bin with Henley scoring off a catch and drive, flanker Tom Hall getting the try, converted by fly-half Ben Bolster.

Henley scored a second try off a lineout not long after when No.8 Alex Bradley collected and charged over near the posts allowing Bolster a simple conversion.

Redruth struck back with a second unconverted try as lock Todd Prisk went over from a pick and drive, near the line.

Sadly, for the Reds, some indifferent tackling lead to the Hawks’ third try scored by centre Xavier Andre on the half hour mark, Bolster again on the money with the conversion to leave Henley 21-10 up at half-time.

The second half saw both sides with chances but the only score came from Brown off a catch and drive, with Henley down to 14 men with a man in the bin, with fly-half Aaron Simmonds adding the extras.

Following the game Redruth Director of Rugby Nigel Hambly was reasonably satisfied.

He said: “We won the second half 7-0 and that gives us a good point on the road.

“We missed a few tackles, which is frustrating, but we are building for the future and can take the positives from our performance into our next game.”

That next game will be on Saturday, March 2, at the Recreation Ground against Old Albanians.

Redruth: T Notman, M Bowden, C Gilbert, N Webber, D Bonds, A Simmonds, R Coote; L Kivalu, M Gidlow, J Tompsett, T Prisk, J Heazelton, E Pascoe, M Grubb, S Stevens. Reps: R Brown, C Williams, L Barnes, J Oulton, P Nonu.

Redruth scores: Tries, Bonds, Prisk, Brown, Con, Simmonds.

  • This Sunday sees Cornwall Under 20’s play their second match in this season’s Jason Leonard Cup against Hampshire Under 20s. The game will take place at Havant RFC with a 1:30 pm kick-off.