Reds run in six tries

REDRUTH got the new year off to a great start after running in six tries in North Yorkshire to give head coach Nigel Hambly a happy 36th birthday.

On a mild winter's day it was not all plain sailing with top scorer Mike Hook dropping out with tonsillitis on Friday PJ Gidlow was pressed into service at fly half .

Against the league's bottom side Redruth had a good start with 10 points in 17 minutes but were given a tough time in the second quarter with the home forwards contesting vigorously in the loose and fly half Nick Wainwright controlling the game for a 20 minute period. With the Reds leading by four points at half time the result was in doubt, but the Redruth forwards dominated the second period and patience was rewarded with five tries.

Hambly summed up the Redruth display: "It was a decent second half performance. Exact opposite of the first half which was real poor."

A dozen or so travelling Redruth fans were unanimous in their opinion at the interval that the paint on the Reds dressing room walls would be blistering during the half time team talk. "I said a few choice things at half time and they had the desired effect," admitted a smiling Hambly after the game.

"We bombed four or five good chances in the first half by people not doing the basics.

"We were trying to score after two rucks instead of after four or five phases. The worrying thing as a coach is that we should be putting two halves together."

While Mark Bright was the star of the show with his second hat trick of tries this season, stand-in goal kicker Mark Richards put over all his five shots at the posts which allowed the Reds to pull away from their stubborn hosts. "Mark is a very talented player. If he had not banged over those two kicks in the first half we would have been behind at half time. For someone who does not kick on a regular basis what he did was a big ask."

Redruth started well with Darren Jacques held up over the line and from the scrum that followed Bright picked up and powered his way over for the first try in the fifth minute, Richards converting.

Back up scrum half Sam Brown, playing on the left wing, was almost over in the Reds next visit to the Harrogate 22 and Richards added a penalty from in front of the posts in the 17th minute after Referee Ed Turnill send 'Gate prop Ed Pawsey to the sin bin for killing the ball to put Redruth 10 points clear.

This seemed to galvanise the home side who gave the Reds a very uncomfortable 20 minutes leading up to half time with forwards Lee Brown and Scott Powell working hard. With slow ball Redruth tried to force the game and made mistakes as they were penned back into their own half and Wainwright pulled back penalties from 40 metres in the 27th minute and from in front of the posts in the 35th minute to narrow the gap to four points.

As expected Redruth came out fired up at the start of the second half and after a run by Luke Collins took play into the Harrogate 22 as Gidlow went over unopposed near the posts for Richards to convert.

Hambly added: "It was disappointing that we could do so much better by doing just a little bit more, we need to be more patient. Sometimes you need to be very blinkered to be more clinical. That will come with more experience. We are trying to build for the future, Simon Peters knows he is on a steep learning curve and we gave chances to Chris Fuca and Sam Brown."

The Redruth front three of Jacques, Owen Hambly and Peter Joyce were dominating the scrums as Harrogate were penned in their own 22 for a long period before they finally cracked in the final quarter. Joyce had a good game in the loose while in midfield Peters despite having his leg bandaged midway through the first half showed some good touches.

The dominance of the Redruth forwards showed when a driving maul took play close to the 'Gate line and a couple of subtle passes by Gidlow and Craig Bonds allowed Bright to canter over for his second try near the posts in the 59th minute.

Richards converted to put Redruth 18 points clear.

Harrogate never gave up but a turnover gave Gidlow and Bright the chance to send Mark Lea away to touch down the Reds' bonus point try after 69 minutes, Richards again converting.

In the final 10 minutes Sam Brown moved to scrum half for the Reds to allow Ed Carne, who has been a consistent performer in the development side over the last 12 months, to make his debut on the left wing. Carne made it a day to remember converting tries by Bonds and Bright to round off a satisfactory trip for the Reds.

With three home games in the next four, including a cup game with Lydney, Hambly played down expectations: "Things are moving on nicely for us, we will look at one game at a time."

On Saturday Blackheath visit the Recreation Ground for a big game with a 2.30pm kick off. The London side inflicted Redruth's biggest defeat of the season (53-16) at the Rectory field, but that painful September day has proved to be the turning point of the Reds season. Under former Wasps player Harvey Biljon Blackheath have a big pack of forwards and play attractive rugby.

Nigel Hambly admitted his side may have a few points to prove to themselves. Lydney follow in the EDF Energy trophy the following week and third placed Henley Hawkes visit Redruth on February 3.

Harrogate: H. Duthie; L. Bramble, G. Morley, J. Buchanan, C. Breslin; N. Wainwright, C. Du Pre (rep D. Venn 66m); E. Pawsey, E. Spackman, M. Howard (rep M. Leach 56m, A. Enston (capt), L. Brown, J. King, D. Harland (rep M. Leach 20-28 m), R. Brown 55m). Rep not used P. Clayton Redruth: P. Teixeira; M. Lea, C. Bonds (capt), S. Peters, S. Brown; PJ Gidlow, M. Richards (rep E. Carne 71m); D. Jacques (rep D. Job 64m), O. Hambly, P. Joyce (rep S. Lutey 70 min), D. Cook, L. Collins, N. Pascoe, C. Fuca (rep J. Navin 66m, M. Bright Referee: Mr E. Turnill (RFU).