Match report by Roger Watson

Six scintillating tries and nineteen points from the boot of Aaron Penberthy saw Redruth home in style.

A significant statistic for the Reds, who have shipped too many tries this season, was that for the first time this term their defence did not concede a try. Once again the foundations for the win were laid by the powerful home pack which dominated the set piece with Man of the Match Tom Duncan impressing off the base of the scrum. The half back pairing of Greg Goodfellow and Penberthy controlled events with confidence.

Redruth started patiently, building a lead with three well struck Penberthy penalties while Andrew Frost replied with one for the visitors. Tom Cooper and Rhodri McAtee, both on loan from The Cornish Pirates, combined well for the first try: Tom Cooper made good inroads into the Southend defence before throwing a long pass to Rhodri McAtee to touch down in the corner. Penberthy’s touch line conversion attempt went wide, his only miss of the afternoon giving him an 88% strike rate for the season.

A bit of quick thinking by Tom Duncan saw him drive over from five metres for his eleventh try of the season, Penberthy making it worth seven points. Frost added another penalty for Southend on the stroke of half time.

The Reds continued to dominate after the break, with strong running from Cooper putting Penberthy in for a try which he converted. A penetrating run by Owen Hambly put Nathan Pedley in to score the bonus point try, Penberthy adding the extras.

The highlight of the afternoon was started by Craig Bonds who broke from his own goal line to set McAtee off on a scorching ninety metre diagonal run which left the mesmerised Southend defence helpless. Unselfishly he finished the move by passing inside for Hambly to score under the posts giving Penberthy an easy conversion.

Fittingly it was McAtee who rounded proceedings off in style when he completed a Darren Semmens run with his second of the afternoon, converted by Penberthy.

Reds’ Director of Rugby, David Penberthy was delighted with the performance and paid tribute to the help McAtee has given in training which tightened up the mid-field defence. “We need to keep the momentum going now. There’s a wonderful team spirit amongst this group of players who we want to get their hands on the ball and enjoy themselves. A win at Westcombe Park next week will build confidence and set us up for the meeting here with table topping Worthing in a fortnight’s time.”

Attendance: 715

Referee: Referee: Fergus Kirby (RFU)

Yellow Card: R. McAtee (Redruth)

Redruth

Tries: McAtee 23, 69; Duncan 36, Penberthy 48, Pedley 58, Hambly 63; Conversions: Penberthy 37, 48, 58, 63, 69; Penalties: Penberthy 5, 12, 20

Southend

Penalties: Frost 17, 40

Redruth: C. Bonds (Capt.), R. McAtee, P. Thirlby (B. Rule 64), T. Cooper, N. Pedley, A. Penberthy, G. Goodfellow, P. Joyce, D. Clackworthy (D. Semmens 53), C. Williams (D. Jacques 49), D. Cook, L. Collins, C. Fuca (B. Fox 60), O. Hambly, T. Duncan (J. Tresidder 68).

Southend: A. Frost (J. Jones 53), B. Driver, M. Freeman, S. Hoult, M. Billings, C. Vaughan (B. Burr 60), H. Branch, M. Williams (Capt.), N. Grier (C. Keenan 49), M. Guess (L. Irvine 17), C. Waring, A. McLintock, A. Barker, D. Johnson (J. Douglas 60), H. Hudson.

On Saturday 19th November a small silver ingot, approx ¾” long with a link to the top end, ½” wide, 1/8” deep was lost, possibly at The Recreation Ground. On one face a baby’s fingerprint is embedded. The item is not of any great financial value but is of huge sentimental value to the person who lost it.

It would be wonderful if it could be recovered. Any information please contact Roger Watson on 01872 530687; 07790 365350 or watson_roger@hotmail.com

Many thanks.

Redruth took maximum points as Clifton grabbed two in a ten try thriller. Despite trailing for ten minutes in the first half the home side never really looked like losing the game but were tested to the full as Clifton scored three tries from their powerful driving lineout.

The Reds started brightly and were rewarded with an early try when Jamie Semmens touched down in the second minute for Aaron Penberthy to convert. Clifton were penalised at a breakdown and gave Penberthy an easy shot at goal as a result of being twice marched back ten metres by referee Nick Williams for backchat.

The visitors hit a purple patch and struck twice in two minutes. Will Davis was the beneficiary of some sloppy Redruth tackling. An error at the restart gave Sam Smee his chance with both tries converted by Gareth Knox to give Clifton the lead. Penberthy responded with a drop goal before powerful scrummaging by the Reds set Tom Duncan up to crash over and put the hosts back in front, Penberthy adding the extras.

The pick of the afternoon was a scintillating fifty metre solo run from Rhodri McAtee, on loan from the Cornish Pirates. Greg Goodfellow then went on one of his characteristic breaks before linking with Chris Fuca who in turn linked with McAtee who went over for his second, converted by Penberthy.

Despite trailing by eighteen points Clifton took the honours in the third quarter with two tries, Michael Davies and Sam Gadd scoring with Knox converting to narrow the gap to four.

Penberthy added another penalty before Man of the Match Fuca was again involved in an attack, Goodfellow touching down for Penberthy to convert establishing a fourteen point lead with four minutes remaining.

Clifton showed great resolve in the dying minutes, Sam Harrison crossing in the corner. Knox saw his conversion attempt go wide but had the satisfaction of adding a penalty with the last kick of the game.

Afterwards Redruth’s Director of Rugby, David Penberthy, paid tribute to the way Clifton fought back in the second half:

“It was good to bounce back with five tries after last week’s poor performance and we played some great rugby in the first half. We’re still shipping too many points though. We will address it this week before we entertain Southend next Saturday.”

Attendance: 782

Referee: Referee: Nick Williams (RFU)

Redruth

Tries: J. Semmens 2, T. Duncan 26, R. McAtee 28, 35, G. Goodfellow 76; Conversions: Penberthy 2, 27, 36, 76; Penalties: Penberthy 10, 68; Drop Goal: Penberthy 18

Clifton

Tries: W. Davis 14, S. Smee 15, M. Davies 48, J. Gadd 58, S. Harrison 78; Conversions: G. Knox 15, 16, 48, 58; Penalty: G. Knox 80

Redruth: B. Rule (N. Pedley 65), T. Notman (L. Vinnicombe 52), C. Bonds (Capt.), J. Semmens, R. McAtee, A. Penberthy, G. Goodfellow, D. Jacques, D. Clackworthy (D. Semmens 65), P. Joyce (C. Williams 52), D. Cook, L. Collins, C. Fuca (J. Morgan 76), O. Hambly, T. Duncan.

Clifton: A. Tiley, W. Pomphrey, B. Roberts, J. Gadd, S. Harrison, G. Knox, S. Smee, W. Davis (M. Davies 32), P. Fincken, T. Harrison, B. Glynn, D. Cook, H. Tovey (Capt.), M. Eadie, J. Levis (P, Butcher 69).

Replacements (not used): S. Evans, E. Wilkes, M. Salter.

January is a rubbish month. Usually starting off with a massive hangover, a massive Christmas credit card bill and a messy house, January tends not to improve for the other 30 days either!

That’s why Redruth Rugby want to offer the ultimate tonic for your jaded January on the 7th against Dings Crusaders:

1. FREE ENTRY before 1pm for anyone who likes our Facebook page*
2. FREE HOSPITALITY for businesses on Twitter*
3. FREE STUFF for Foursquare users*

We’re calling it Social Saturday, and we want it to be a great cheap day out that helps you hold on to your cash whilst still going out with your friends or family. Plus because there’s free entry before 1pm for anyone liking our Facebook page, it’s an ideal time to introduce new people to the Recreation Ground!

With extra things to do on the day as well, including a smartphone scavenger hunt and a new rugby skills challenge game, there’s not enough space here to go into all the details, so head over to socialsaturday.co.uk to find out more!

Claim your free entry!

To get in to Social Saturday for free before 1pm, all that you have to do is go to the Social Saturday tab on our Facebook page and – if you haven’t already liked us – click the ‘Like’ button t the top of the page. Then just print off the coupon that’s revealed, fill out your name and bring it along on the day! Then just get your friends to do the same and you’re all set for a great cheap day out.

Defy January! Start the year as you mean to go on: being Social on Saturday!

* Full details and conditions on socialsaturday.co.uk.

Cornish Pirates’ favourite flyer Rhodri McAtee has been loaned to Redruth for a couple of games to give him more game time whilst he continues to wait for more Championship starts.

Rhodri has been a firm crowd favourite with the Championship side over the past 8 seasons and is approaching 200 appearances for the club, but so far has only been handed 6 appearances in the current league campaign.

The Wales 7′s star, who won gold in the 2009 Dubai 7′s, trained at the Recreation Ground tonight with his new temporary teammates, and is set to start in this weekend’s home fixture against Clifton (KO 2:30pm).

Talking to Radio Cornwall, director of rugby David Penberthy said:

“You can’t turn quality players down who can bring a huge amount to your side. Our backline is in need of a little bit of experience. It’s great to have someone of Rhodri’s ability and hopefully he’ll also bring something to training and bits and pieces like that.”

If you want to get to know Rhodri a bit better, check out the West Briton’s 20 Questions feature with him from last year. Highlights include daisy chains, Glee, Transformers and a (then) unbeaten record on FIFA 11!

Calling all female Rhodri fans!

If you’re after a good look at the Welsh wing-wizard, then this weekend is Ladies Day at the Recreation Ground! The Frame UK Hospitality Suite is going to be a man-free environment, with a drink on arrival as well as a buffet and the best view of the action for just £7. Ideal for a girly gossipy day out – plus dump your man in the bar early where it’s only £2 for selected pints from 1pm-2pm.

Image from http://www.team-emilie.com/ – Rhodri’s helping us so please consider supporting them.

The England Clubs & Schools U18s: Honorary Chairman & Team Manager for the South West Division

Redruth RFC is delighted to announce that our Director of Rugby, David Penberthy, has been appointed by the RFU to lead the South West U18s Clubs & Schools Divisional Delivery Team.

This honorary role will be in addition to his responsibilities with the Club and is both a great honour for him and Redruth RFC.

In his new post Dave will oversee the delivery of the Divisional selection process to provide a South West Divisional Squad for talented players from within the Community Game. He will manage the delivery of the U18s Divisional Team and playing programme including match preparation, travel, accommodation and logistics, playing facilities and equipment, medical support, insurance and media liaison.

The appointment is richly deserved and I am sure everyone will want to join us in offering “Bert” our congratulations.

Have to start this week with the Old Albanians game and yet another defeat on the road. After thinking about it I am going to start with the statement that Old Albanians played superbly well, they executed their tries really well and they had done their homework on us. James Shanahan is a very astute rugby player and he orchestrated his side very well. In the forwards they had Paul Gustard, the Saracens forwards coach and former Leicester and London Irish player and he kept the forward pack together and they played very well as a unit. I have to give it to our guys though they did try, particularly in the last 20 minutes, and did not give up. Our first up tackling and defensive play out wide were not up to scratch. Every team we have played this year, especially away from home, are busting their guts to put us to the sword and it means a huge amount to them when they do. This is a very good, very competitive league with some very good teams and players playing in it. There are obviously areas we must look at and that is just not on the playing side. It seems to me that our efforts at home are buoyed by our support, our support lifts our players and brings us home, but when we are away we are very much on our own and I think that is becoming evident. Day trips seem to be OK as we have won the 2 games where we have done that and have had a lot of support behind us. Anyway, it is something we have to sort, our mindset must be positive and we must come to terms with the fact that a season consists of home and away games!

On the injury front, Matt Bowden is progressing nicely and I am hoping he will get an opportunity to play in the next couple of weeks, Lewis Vinnicombe has recovered from his knocks and will be available for selection this week, Chris Bailey is getting better and would of played in the Development Team if they had a game this weekend. Nathan Pedley is troubled with a hamstring strain that prevented him playing this past weekend and whilst we have a few others nursing knocks and bruise that are not preventing them turning out at the moment. Our squad is light but sometimes situations like this force your hand and you have to include youngsters from the Colts or just out of Colts. Lewis Moyle has played in the last 3 games coming off the bench, and Chris Instance made his début last weekend against OA’s.

Watched the Gloucester game with Toulouse yesterday afternoon and it was good to see Darren Dawiduik playing for Glos. Davvy played for the Reds as a loan player from the Pirates and had a couple of spells with us. He is a really nice lad as well and deserves his success.

After the Worthing game, on December 10th, the players, with the help of Jeff Sinclair, will be holding an auction. The players are providing most of the lots and there will definitely be a lot on offer. All proceeds raised from this auction will go to the Players Fund.

My sincere thanks goes to the Mini Junior Section who donated £300 of the £1300 they raised at their Race Night on Friday night. I know I also speak on behalf of the players when I offer thanks. I am told the clubroom was bouncing and it was a great night enjoyed by all. It’s encouraging to see how the future of the club are helping out the present! Whilst talking about the Fund, the appeal has now been opened up to the full membership of the club. We have a long way to go and your help and generosity is seriously welcomed. We have raised about £28k to date but need a further £45k to be able to cover the Players match fees until the end of the season.

Well the news that most people dreaded, Shaun Edwards has renewed his contract with Wales and has signed a new 4 year deal. For the second time England have allowed the former London Wasps Head Coach to slip through the net! It was widely documented that Edwards was a free agent following the World Cup but no move was made by the RFU. With Martin Johnson’s future still up in the air, this could prove to be a major gaff of the biggest type! I believe Edwards was badly needed by England and his undoubted passion as an Englishman would of helped enormously restore pride to a battered England set up! Maybe the sticking point for the RFU was Edwards wish to remain closely associated with weekly rugby. Whilst defence coach of Wales he remained Head Coach at Wasps and this was something the RFU were not prepared to accept if he were to have had a role with the full England side last time out. I seem to remember that he was offered a part time role with the Saxons. It now looks likely that Edwards could link up with a premiership club again in conjunction with his Welsh role and that could very well be Leicester Tigers …

Mike Tindall has certainly reaped the wrath of the RFU following his removal from the England Elite Squad and the £25k fine imposed on him. There is all sort of speculation over this and maybe it is a case of him being made a scapegoat. There was obviously a major breach of the rules set for the Elite Playing Squad. In a separate incident, Ashton and Haskell picked up suspended sentences and Dylan Hartley was discharged completely. I am assuming that as Rob Andrew has imposed this sentence it must have come as a part of his review of the England performance etc at the World Cup. This is the review that was going to be reviewed by Fran Cotton under the instruction of now deposed Chairman and CEO Martyn Thomas. All players have the right to appeal and it has already been stated that Mike Tindall will appeal. Nevertheless is goes to prove that high profile sportsman have to be on the lookout at all times, in Tindall’s case he is more than that and to have been caught in the alleged uncompromising situations that he was are scary indeed! I really do wonder how much of a scapegoat he is being made off, give him credit he did exceptionally well for Gloucester in their game against Toulouse and I have no doubt that the penalty imposed will be reduced, probably on the financial side, but I do think he will no longer figure in the EPS squad but that was inevitable me thinks!!!

So back to back home games now and a chance to build some confidence prior to our visit to Westcombe Park on the 3rd December. I hope our results away from home will not discourage you to keep supporting the boys. Clifton are our visitors this weekend and they have been gaining rave reviews about their forwards of late. They are young and athletic but also have the experienced head of Matt Salter the former Bristol player. It should be an intriguing battle and one where 2 teams reignite league encounters after a gap of a few years. I am being no more accurate than that as I made a statement when we played Taunton that that was the first time we had played them in a competitive league match …. WRONG!!!!! …. we played them in the inaugural season of the leagues in 1987/88 and lost 22-17!

That is it for this week, hope to see many of you at the weekend …

Cheers and gone

David Penberthy
Director of Rugby

On their first visit to Woollams on the outskirts of St Albans, Redruth were well beaten by 8 tries to 1.

Orchestrated by former Cambridge coach James Shanahan, the OAs played in a style fitting of their impressive facilities, keeping the Reds defence at full stretch with their fluent back play as the Cornish side fell 17 points behind in the opening 15 minutes.

On a great playing surface the hosts were ahead after 3 minutes with James Spiers running in a try in the right hand corner.

Redruth were under pressure but hard running former Cambridge player Chris Lombaard cut through the midfield to easily to touchdown under the crossbar for Richard Gregg to convert.

From the restart good passing gave Ollie Marchon the chance to run in OA’s third try after just 15 minutes.

The Reds recovered and, after two massive forward drives underneath the OA posts, a good pass from Greg Goodfellow gave Jamie Semmens space to force his way over for a try to the right of the posts that Aaron Penberthy converted.

Redruth had plenty of possession and territory but could not force a score and lost lock Damien Cook to a yellow card after 37 minutes following a scuffle after a turnover in the OA 22.

Former Broadstreet player Marchon ran impressively all afternoon and took his second try well in first half stoppage time, with Gregg converting to see the hosts to a comfortable 24-7 lead at the interval.

Old Albanians lost former Leicester player Paul Gustard to a yellow card for some stamping spotted by touch judge Leo Burton three minutes into the second half, but they carried on undaunted: Speirs going over for his second try three minutes later converted by Gregg.

Owen Hambly with a chip and chase was the only time in the second period the Reds came close to scoring, with prop Marco Cecere going over for a try midway through the second period that Gregg also converted.

19 year old Chris Instance came on to make his debut for the Cornishmen in the final quarter and, along with another teenager Lewis Moyle, worked hard in the back row as the Reds competed better for a while before OA added two tries in the closing stages: Marchon completing his hatrick before replacement Andrew Daish went over in the right hand corner in injury time to complete Redruth’s misery.

Old Albanians
Tries: Marchon 3, Speirs 2, Lombaard, Cecrer, Daish
Con: Gregg 5
Yellow Card: Gustard

R Gregg; J Speirs, T Adams, C Lombaard, O Marchon; J Shanahan (Rep C May 65 Min); J-B Bruzulier; C Hughes (Rep J Ross 78 Min), W Coupe (Rep S Bailey 69 Min), M Cecere, O Cooper-Millar, L Bickle, L White (Rep J Micans 69 Min), R Farenheim (Rep A Daish 65 Min), P Gustard

Redruth
Try: J Semmens
Con: Penberthy
Yellow Card: Cook
B Rule; P Thirlby (Rep D Bonds 71 Min), C Bonds (Capt), J Semmens, T Notman; A Penberthy, G Goodfellow; D Jacques, D Clackworthy (Rep D Semmens 47 Min), C Williams (Rep P Joyce 47 Min), D Cook, L Collins, C Fuca (Rep C Instance 71 Min), O Hambly, J Morgan (Rep L Moyle 65 Min)

Ref Simon McConnell (RFU)

Testosterone-free fun: Ladies Day is taking over the Frame Homes Suite for the Redruth v Clifton match! A glass of bubbly, a yummy buffet and all the best hospitality in a friendly man-free environment which is great for a girly giggle!

Purchase advanced tickets in the clubhouse or straight here from the website!

Firstly can I extend mine, and I am sure everyone else’s, sincere condolences to all those people who have suffered loss in the M5 road traffic incident on Friday night. I received a call from Lee Waddon the DoR at Taunton at 10:30pm on Friday night to let me know what had happened but I had no idea of the enormity of the situation. This must be an horrendous time for those at Taunton Rugby Club and I sincerely hope that the investigations etc that are currently being carried out are concluded satisfactorily for all concerned.

Back to the game, and for the neutral what a game of rugby. I have now had the chance to look at the DVD and we did play some good stuff but there was a 20 minute spell when we lost our way completely. Going from 10 nil up to 17 – 10 down in the space of 5 minutes was a bit of a shock but you have to give it to Taunton, they took full advantage of our lapse of concentration. At 27 – 13 down early in the second half I knew we had a big hill to climb but I still had the belief that we could do it, it may not of looked it, but it was there!!!! A rousing last 15 minutes and total dominance in the pack throughout enabled us to take the 5 points and I think Taunton deserved to go home with 2. If I am honest I would of preferred they went with none but from a rugby perspective they fully deserved the 2. One concerning aspect is the fact that we are conceding too many points! It is an area we have to address sooner than later and it is an area where we have excelled over the years. For many years we were the 2nd or 3rd best defensive side in National 1 so we have to address the issue quickly!

Yesterday, the Development Team played West Country Warriors (Plymouth Albion) and, although losing, put up a great fight and there were some solid performances from a number of the youngsters. We fielded a squad of 20 with 15 boys who have come through the Colts set up. They were up against a strong Warriors team with a number of players who featured off the bench for Plymouth the day before in their league match against Bedford. These games are absolutely vital for our players and I am very grateful to Plymouth and Graham Dawe for agreeing to play us a number of times throughout the season. I am hoping to get another game in before Xmas either on a Sunday afternoon or a Monday night. Launceston are also fielding sides regularly now so I hope to sort a couple of mid week games with them.

The “goings on” continue at the RFU and the inevitable happened last week when the reign of Martyn Thomas was ended. There has been both pressure and speculation that this was going to happen and now he has a few weeks to carry out the handover and then, maybe, things can get back to some normality. Backing seems to be growing for Martin Johnson to stay in charge but there is widespread expectation that the coaching team will be replaced. One name that is cropping up regularly is that of Shaun Edwards who has left his positions at London Wasps and the Welsh National Team. Edwards should never of been overlooked by England in the first place so the sooner they get him signed up the better! Another mentioned is Dave Ellis the French Defence Coach, Ellis has also worked at Gloucester and London Irish and is widely respected in rugby circles. I can’t see a future for Wells, Ford or Smith after the demise of the National Team. The Championship win last year covered some of the cracks at that was all, it flattered to deceive, and it all came home to roost in the World Cup. It’s interesting that some of the players at the centre of the storm in New Zealand have all backed Johnson …. why couldn’t they tow the line when it was needed most! Anyway, there is likely to be a lot of personnel on the move over the coming months and it is now widely thought that Sir Clive Woodward will feature somewhere … also good to know that the review of the review of the review has been cancelled.

This weekend we visit Old Albanians for the very first time and it will be a case of meeting up with an old adversary, James Shanahan. Shanners had a good couple of seasons at Cambridge and has done a great job at Old Albanians and also took Hertfordshire to the County Championship Final at Twickenham last year where they lost out to Lancashire in the final. The Old Albanians ground has some of the best facilities around, I am told, and Saracens use the ground for training.

As you know the Players Fund is gathering momentum and I am very pleased with the initial responses. We have around £28,000 in the coffers now but we must hit £40k by the end of November. People were generous on Saturday afternoon with the collection when over £500 was raised. I keep saying it but the Players are the most important asset the club has and they have to be looked after. Rugby is demanding and for guys who are playing at this level it is probably as difficult as it gets. Working full time and having to train at least 4 times a week either before they go to work or/and after they return from work is hard. Many have young families and then there is the travel. I don’t need to harp on, but I am good at it, so please please continue to help. I want to keep good rugby at the club so our young players, coming through the Colts and Mini Juniors, can aspire to playing for the 1st XV.

Yesterday morning I went to the club and watched the Mini Juniors playing Wadebridge. It was brilliant to see all the kids, plus parents, there having a great time. I watched Jeff Kitto’s team play some very good stuff and there were a number of boys that caught my eye, however I must also say that there was a very impressive young lady playing as well and she certainly did not look out of place. Sunday mornings are not the best for me, can’t understand why!!!, but I do try to get there most Sunday’s and I do enjoy watching. It’s also great to see so many ex players involved. I also noted yesterday that a certain Nigel Hambly was there refereeing the Under 8′s … poacher turned game keeper or what!!!!!

I have a large quantity of very big sizes of Stash rugby clothing (Players Issue) available for sale if anyone is interested? Please let me know at the next home game.

So that is it for this week, off on my travels again tomorrow to Barnstaple, then its South Wales on Wednesday and Bristol on Thursday and then a nice little trek to St Albans on Friday for the match on Saturday. My “Tweeting” is getting better and my followers are increasing up to over 50 now, however I am still miles behind some others at the club so get me in the frame and start following me now! I case you don’t know you can follow me at DavePen8 …..

Cheers and gone

David Penberthy
Director of Rugby