Redingensians Rams suffered a narrow defeat to their Henley neighbours, closing their first game of 2017 with a 17-12 score line. It was truly a tale of two halves, with Rams failing to score in the first 40 minutes and Henley unable to break Rams’ defence in the second.

Henley Hawks looked confident coming from their own kick-off. Quickly developing into Rams’ 22 and pushing forward with some powerful set pieces, the home side were rewarded with an early try in the left-hand corner scored by Liam O’Neill.

After the reset Rams sought to make amends with Jacob Atkins attempting a lengthy penalty kick. This was missed and Henley mustered a counterattack against an easy overlap on Rams’ right wing. O’Neill scored his second try with only 10 minutes on the clock and, even after Henley again missed their conversion, put an energetic home crowd in high spirits after the Christmas break.

Unable to build any momentum of their own, Rams were left floundering throughout the first half. Although Ben Henderson, Tom Vooght and Ollie Taylor maintained Rams’ excellent defensive standard, offensive plays were few and far between. When Rams did gain possession they opted to play a fast and wide game which rarely made any convincing arguments towards the Henley try line.

The first half was interrupted by 10 minutes of static scrums near Rams’ try line. Fans were left frustrated as the same scrum was reset 4 times with no immediately apparent fault. This eventually surmounted in Henley Hawks’ being awarded a penalty try in the 31st minute, which was converted by George Jackson.

Although Rams began to look dangerous in the final minutes of the first half; making their first real threats towards the Henley try line, the home side managed to contain Rams’ attack until the whistle. A 17-0 half-time scoreboard was the dividend for an absent offense from Rams throughout the opening half.

However, after the interval the visitors made it clear that they weren’t down-and-out. Steven Bryant, Conor Corrigan and Andy Amor all championed convincing attacks and proved Rams as a viable threat. By the 55-minute mark, Rams resembled their regular selves; hard-hitting, ruck-rallying and pace-setting.

Tom Vooght, after winning the ball from a demolished Henley ruck, set up Jak Rossiter to score Rams’ first points of the game in the 58th minute. 5 minutes later Colin Thompson followed suit, scoring when he found himself without an opposing player to stop him. Atkins picked up the extras on Thompson’s try for a 17-12 score line with 15 minutes left to play; a worrying concept for Henley supporters who, only moments earlier, had thought that the game was accounted for.

Rams continued their assault, forcing Henley to step up their game to stop them. Steven Bryant owned Rams’ defensive back line and took immediate ownership of Henley’s chances to clear the ball; Jak Rossiter had a blistering run down the right-hand wing; all-in-all, Rams looked like the dangerous team they should have been throughout the first half. A final score-line of 17-12 showed the turnaround that half-time had prompted.

Rams walk away with another close defeat in their roster. They fall to 8th place in National League 2 South after Cinderford’s victory against Bishops Stortford.
Rams will return to OBR next week for their second seasonal meeting with Redruth.

Report by Matt McCrory
Photo by Tim Pitfield

Redingensians Rams:
15 – Jacob Atkins
14 – Jak Rossiter
13 – Steven Bryant
12 – Dan Barnes
11 – Conor Corrigan
10 – Spike Chandler
9 – Chico U’Chong
1 – Kieran Ball
2 – Ben Henderson
3 – Jack Steadman
4 – Phil Hoy
5 – Ollie Taylor
6 – Andy Amor
7 – Tom Vooght
8 – Robbie Stapley (c)

Replacements:
16 – Ross Crame
17- Antony Marris
18 – Colin Thompson
19 – Tom Bryson
20 – Sam Guttridge