The St Piran’s Game: Redruth 38 Hertford 24
Events, Headlines, Match Reports / Saturday 3 March 2012
The Reds secured their eleventh home win of the season with a fine second half performance in front of a bumper crowd at The Recreation Ground.
Before the game a procession of some three hundred children made their way to the Club as part of the town’s St Piran’s Day celebrations. Steam engines, fairground rides and demonstrations of dance and music were enjoyed by all as part of the pre-match entertainment.
Hertford came to spoil the party and it was they who made the better start with their forwards dominating the set piece to give fly-half Olly Forest a platform from which to control the first thirty minutes with his kicking, running and distribution.
The visitors raced to a ten point lead through a Forest penalty, a Josh Corcoran try and a Forest conversion. A well finished Tom Notman try, converted by Brett Rule who also added a penalty levelled things up.
From the restart Hertford recycled the ball well to put winger Mike Allen over, Forest making it a seven point score. A trademark Greg Goodfellow break set up a good position for The Reds with Notman making the final pass for an Owen Hambly touch down to keep the hosts in touch. Forest responded with a fine try which he also converted to give Hertford a nine point lead at the interval.
A couple of changes to the pack and a half-time team talk saw a very different Redruth in the second period. A well struck Rule penalty reduced the arrears, then from a lineout a reinvigorated Redruth pack drove some thirty metres for Hambly to score his second try and reduce the deficit to one point with Rule’s conversion hitting the upright.
The home side showed their dominance again when a well-timed Sam Parsons pass gave skipper Craig Bonds the opportunity to weave his way under the posts for Rule to convert. Rule added another penalty before an outrageous looping pass from Goodfellow and a flip between his legs by Hambly set Dean Bonds up to score in the corner and see The Reds home in style.
Director of Rugby, David Penberthy felt that Redruth had started lethargically and the set pieces had not been good enough. “The forwards were outstanding in the second half and overall it was a good performance which should give the boys some confidence for next week’s trip to Taunton.”
Attendance: 1023
Referee: Fergus Kirby (RFU)
Yellow Cards: Hett (Technical), South (Foul Play) [both Hertford]
Redruth
Tries: Notman 18, Hambly 26 & 52, C. Bonds 59, D. Bonds 75; Conversions: Rule 18, 59; Penalties: Rule 21, 46, 64
Hertford
Tries: Corcoran 6, Allen 22, Forest 31; Conversions: Forest 6, 23, 31; Penalty: Forest 2
Redruth:, P. Thirlby (C.P. Williams 77), T. Notman, C. Bonds (Capt.), S. Parsons, D. Bonds, B. Rule, G. Goodfellow (J. Jackson 77), D. Jacques, J. Tresidder (R. Brown 36), P. Joyce (C. Williams 58), D. Cook, M. Allen (B. Fox 40), L. Moyle, O. Hambly, T. Duncan.
Hertford: A. Fox, I. Crompton, A. Ledsum (K. Lemon 59), J. Storey, M. Allen, O. Forest, M. Hankin (R. Gash 50), J. Patton (R. Long 50), B. McNamee, K. Basra (A. McDougall 70), C. South, J. Weaver, L. Hett (E. Moss 56), J. Corcoran, A. Leo.
Last year's St Piran's Day game against Stourbridge was a fantastic occasion with large crowds enjoying the festivities, the game and the free entry before 1pm! This year we're going to be going even bigger and better than last year, to match the increased size of Redruth town's collective celebrations (events leaflet here). The procession through the town will be bigger and better than before, and will end up snaking it's way into the Recreation Ground at around 12:30pm - all entries before 1pm are free again! Included in this year's entertainment is:
- Vintage Cars
- Steam Engines
- Candy Floss
- Chair Planes
- Small Roundabouts
- Lazer Tag
- Helterskelter
- Large Slides
- 'Dave's Big Mouth'
- Displays
- Workshops
- Tag Match
- Tuck Shop
- Poss Pig roast
- BBQ
Groups putting on displays and workshops will include a Combined School Choir, Redruth School Brass Band, a Samba Band, RedYouth street dancers and Redruth Judo Club. Just in case you were beginning to wonder: yes, there is a rugby match too! Redruth will be taking on Hertford at 3pm in their National League 2 South clash.
Match Preview
There will be plenty of things at stake for the Redruth players when they take to the field against Hertford on Saturday. A win guarantees mathematical safety from the relegation dogfight intensifying for the 10 teams below them in the league. They'll be playing to add the cherry on the cake of a great day out for thousands of people enjoying Redruth's 2012 St Pirans celebrations.
But perhaps most of all, they'll be looking to avenge the 34-22 defeat inflicted by the visitors in the reverse fixture back in October. The ill-tempered encounter saw each side see two yellow cards and prompted Redruth's Director of Rugby David Penberthy to rail against what he saw as 'totally inept refereeing'. Despite tries from Tom Duncan, Chris Fuca and Owen Hambly the Cornishmen returned home with nothing to show for their efforts but a slightly worse points difference.
Hertford currently lie in 12th position in the league table, just 6 points clear of the relegation zone, and travel to Cornwall in search of only their second away win of the season. Their only travelling victory so far though was the stand-out result of their season so far, trouncing promotion-chasing Hartpury College 22-24 in December. However, they have capitulated to all four sides below them away from home so far, which is one of the main reasons that they are in danger of returning to National 3 SE after just a single season at this level. That, and having acquired only two losing bonus points from 15 defeats.
26 players have crossed the whitewash for Hertford, but none more so than local winger Mike Allan who has scored 17 tries and lies joint-fourth in the league's try-scoring table. Former Northampton and London Welsh forward Brett McNamee has 7 tries to his credit, whilst Alex Walker (Saracens, London Welsh and Newcastle) has grabbed 5 tries as well.
More than ever, the attention will be on Redruth's powerful pack. Hertford have conceded 43 tries to opposition forwards this season so far - more than any other team save Taunton (Redruth's opponents the subsequent weekend). Also, unlike last time around both sides will be aiming to keep 15 on the pitch at all times, but with Hertford's disciplinary record - 21 cards from 23 games: the 3rd worst in the league - the odds aren't too good. Joshua Corcoran leads their bad-boy table, with four yellows to the flanker's name.
