An early yellow card for Jak Rossiter and a duo of Redruth tries, the first scored by Lewis Vinnicombe and the second scored by Alexander Ducker with extras delivered by Brett Roger Rule, put Redingensians Rams at an uneasy 0-12 deficit only 10 minutes into their second seasonal meeting with the Cornish visitors.

Although the formidable Redruth opposition was met with an avid defence, with standout tackles coming from Tom Bryson, Steve Bryant and Kieran Ball, the Reading team found it difficult to assert themselves in open play and in the set piece. Their only points scored in the first half came from Conor Corrigan’s breakout solo try down the right-hand wing and subsequent conversion completed by Spike Chandler.

Rams did have opportunities to bully the Redruth try line. Jak Rossiter, Sam Guttridge and Dan Barnes all made dangerous runs of their own and Phil Hoy, Tom Vooght and Andrew Amor led Rams’ pack against the Redruth try line. Despite these chances, it was the visitors who made the most impact and put Rams on a steady defensive throughout the first half.

Redruth widened their point lead after Shaun Buzza waltzed through a dismal lineout on Rams’ try line. They followed this with a second try scored by Ducker after a breakout run from Pale Nonu. Neither of these tries were converted for a half-time score of 7-22.

The second half set out to a rocky start when Redruth’s Pale Nonu was red carded for a high tackle against Spike Chandler. Rams’ scrum half Miles Lloyd was controversially yellow carded soon after, prompting a large shift in Rams’ arrangement of players and giving Redruth 3 points through Brett Roger Rule’s penalty.

Rams certainly looked more dangerous in the second half. They spent far more time threatening the visitors’ try line and managed to subdue Redruth’s rampage with attacks of their own. In the 67th minute Miles Lloyd performed a perfect offload post-try, providing Sam Guttridge with a break through Redruth’s defensive line and an easy pass to Conor Corrigan for his second try of the match. Guttridge picked up the extras for some well-earned points of his own.

Redruth found the final points of the game in Rule’s penalty. Although Rams spent the last 10 minute bullying their opposing try line, the score board stayed static at 14-28 for the final whistle – demonstrating a far more one-sided game than we’d seen on the pitch.

Rams are away from home for the next two weeks. Next week they face off against Chinnor, who narrowly beat Barnstaple 15-17 today.

Report by Matt McCrory
Photo by Paul Clark

Redingensians Rams:
15 - Sam Guttridge
14 - Jak Rossiter
13 - Steven Bryant
12 - Dan Barnes (c)
11 - Conor Corrigan
10 - Spike Chandler
9 - Miles Lloyd
1 - Kieran Ball
2 - Ben Henderson
3 - Jack Steadman
4 - Phil Hoy
5 - Colin Thompson
6 - Tom Bryson
7 - Tom Vooght
8 - Andy Amor

Replacements:
16 - Ross Crame
17 - Antony Marris
18 - Craig Nightingale
19 - Ollie Taylor
20 - Ollie Foxley

Redruth:
15 - Brett Roger Rule
14 - Lewis Vinnicombe
13 - Joel Matavesi
12 - Pale Nonu
11 - Alexander Ducker
10 - Angus Taylor
9 - Jack Oulton
1 - Tommy Phillips
2 - Benjamin Priddey
3 - Craig Williams
4 - Bradley Howe
5 - Shaun Buzza
6 - Christopher Fuca
7 - Mark Grubb
8 - Kyle Marriot (c)

Replacements:
16 - Adam Wright
17 - Richard Brown
18 - Luke Hattam
19 - Samuel Parson
20 - Dean Bonds