Newly promoted Old Reds served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season with a solid all round performance against an albeit under strength Minehead side. Their pitch has a marked end to end slope and Minehead took full advantage of it to run in two early tries Richard Henson was on hand to go over in the corner for a try well converted by no10 Dave Farmer and was soon on the score sheet again , forcing his way over despite being laid out on the line by a dangerous high tackle which went unpunished.


Reds consolidated and began to grow in confidence. Realising that Minehead lacked a genuine

lineout forward they changed their game plan, keeping the ball tight and forcing Minehead to concede a penalty for holding on, before gaining a further 10 metres , the referee having adjudged that Minehead had not retreated 10 . Opting to kick for the corner Red’s initial drive was stopped but they went over having controlled the ensuing scrum , winning quick ball to cross for a converted try. They soon drew level when Minehead failed to clear their line and were overwhelmed in the ensuing ruck


Reds went ahead 19-12 just before half time when Minehead were penalised yet again and Reds opted to go for the catch and drive in the corner which was held up , before they regained control, releasing their open side flanker who took advantage of an uncharacteristic missed tackle to run in another converted try.


Minehead were always going to struggle up the slope and their task was made even more difficult when Jake Pound was sin binned for what looked like a border line high tackle , innocuous in comparison with the blow received by Henson in the first half.


Reds pack was now in full control, linking impressively with their back line and using the slope to good effect to add two further tries , one converted , before the re-instated Pound found a gap to reduce the deficit to 31-17


Reds went in again for the best try of the game scored by their inside centre who ran right through the defence to score under the posts.


In the last 5 minutes Minehead showed their tactical naivety continually attempting to run the ball out of the 22 instead of making touch and giving the pack a temporary breather . Their failure to break the stranglehold resulted in a final converted Reds try leaving them worthy winners at 45-17


Pictures available Here