Yellow peril for Rams at Redruth

A last minute winning try for Redruth secured a 25 to 19 point victory over the Reading men, as the Rams were left waiting for a first win down in the Cornish hills.

Match Report by Cameron Temple
Photo courtesy of Tim Pitfield taken from Rams v Redruth at Home as no photographer was at the game this week

The Rams struggled following a mammoth journey down to the west coast and the game was made more arduous for the Rams due to their receiving four yellow cards over the course of the game, which head coach Seb Reynolds addressed after the game, saying, ‘it was a really interesting game of rugby, I think both sides played poorly with the wind on their backs and actually created pressure for themselves. If you come down to a place like Redruth and receive four yellow cards the likelihood is you’re not going to win the game. We were just a little bit off our game today and unfortunately we were unable to get the victory.’

The Rams began the better of the two sides, adding the first points of the afternoon to the board with a converted penalty kick from Souter, just after the 10-minute mark.
The away side continued to build on this early lead as Cole broke immediately from the kick off to put the Rams on the front foot once again, eventually resulting in the Rams winning a penalty within kicking distance and Souter converting once again.
However, this seemed to kick Redruth into action as they entered a period of dominance, which began with a fast paced attack involving slick hands to bring the ball into the Rams 22, and then a singular pick up and drive allowing the Home side to bring themselves within one point of the Reading men.

Redruth came back at the Rams, applying pressure immediately following the kick off, with further pressure being added as the referee showed Henderson a yellow card.

However, despite the extra man, Redruth were blown away at the scrum by the Rams, with Cole demonstrating some quick thinking to take the ball out the back of the scrum and run round the corner, popping the ball off to Nightingale who ran half the length of the pitch to score just right of the posts, once again allowing the Rams some breathing space on the score board.

Once again Redruth replied almost immediately, winning a penalty line out and taking advantage of the extra man to drive the ball over the line and once again bring themselves within a point of the Rams.

With the game nearing half time, The Reading men looked to be searching to sneak another try before the break, with Baker doing brilliantly well to turn the ball over in Redruth territory.
With the home side looking to be making their way out of danger with a kick Corrigan gathered the ball and popped it off to Bryant who showed great strength to floor his opposite number with a hand off and run the ball over the line in the corner, leaving the Rams with a 6 point lead going into half time.

Redruth in command at the beginning of the second half, only being kept out by the outstanding resilience of the Rams defence with the home sides momentum eventually quashed by a knock on. The men from Cornwall didn’t have to wait long to regain the momentum as they got the ball wide and swiftly made their way to the Rams try line, eventually taking the ball over the line following a series of offloads.

Redruth followed this up quickly adding another three points from a penalty kick moments later, with the home side taking the lead for the first time in the game. Nonetheless, this lead did not last long as Souter converted a penalty of their own for the Rams shortly after Nightingale received their third yellow card of the game.

However, a yellow card for Souter, in the final five minutes of the game, put the Rams in an extremely precarious position.Almost inevitably, Redruth’s extra men proved too much for the Rams as the Cornwall men got the ball out wide, leaving Corrigan outnumbered as the only defender, and allowing Redruth to score in the corner and take the game away from the Rams with only seconds to go.

Rams will want to make amends in their battle to retain third place in the league against Taunton Titans, at home Saturday 24th March. KO 2.30pm.

Rams: O Foxley (G Drew 20-30) (J Rossiter 69), J Duffelen (J Steadman 50), S Bryant, E Jones, C Corrigan, J Souter, O Cole (J Booth 72); M Weller (J Duffelen 70), B Henderson (G Drew 69), J Baker, O Taylor, C Thomson (J Collis 72), C Nightingale, T Vooght (Capt), C Stapley.
Redingensians scores: Tries, Nightingale, Corrigan, Pens, Souter (3)
Yellow Cards: Henderson (19), Weller (48), Nightingale (68), Souter (78)

Redruth: T Notman, M Bowden, A Higgins (C Gilbert 49), S Parsons, D Bonds, R Kevern, R Coote; J Tompsett (L Kivalu 54), R Brown (Capt) (M Gidlow 69), C Williams (J Tompsett 65), T Prisk (J Clemson 65), B Fox, K Marriott, C Fuca, B Howe.
Replacement (not used): J Simmons
Redruth scores: Tries, Parsons, Fox, Gilbert, Clemson, Con Kevern, Pen, Kevern