NATIONAL LEAGUE TWO WEST

REDRUTH 31 CINDERFORD 19

REDRUTH picked up their first win since early February as they proved too strong for visiting Cinderford in National League Two West at the Recreation Ground.

With the ground falling quiet ahead of kick-off in memory of former Redruth president Derek Collins, it was the visitors who started the brighter, making the most of a yellow card for home prop Luke Barnes to claim the game’s opening try on 12 minutes when a speculative offload was picked off by Brendan Llewelyn who sprinted the length of the field for a converted try on 12 minutes.

The visiting lead, however, proved short-lived as back roared the Reds, hooker Tom Cowan-Dickie powering over from close range for the score, which was converted by Joe Cummins.

A second yellow card – this time for Jack Counter – hardly helped the home cause, but they made light of the numerical disadvantage to hit their rivals with a quickfire double from No.8 Chris Rovery, both of which were converted by Cummins, to stretch their lead to 21-7.

Seemingly in control of proceedings, Redruth’s cause was aided when Cinderford had Morgan Miles-Davies yellow-carded on 35 minutes. However, just like the hosts rallied earlier in the contest, Clive Stuart-Smith’s side did the same, claiming their second score when Josh Horton intercepted and ran some 50 metres for a converted try on the stroke of half-time.

On the resumption, though, Redruth were quickly back into their attacking groove, bagging two more tries from Jack Simmons and Jack Counter to stretch their lead to 31-14

A late consolation score from Matt Cotton gave the scoreline a tighter feel come the close, but it was a much-needed lift for the Reds, who sit eighth in the standings.

Redruth: Luke Johnson; Noah Clifford, Jack Simmonds, Sam James, Jack Counter; Joe Cummins, Jacob Chapple; Luke Barnes, Tom Cowan-Dickie, Tyler Gendall; Luke Hattam, Ed Pascoe; John Stevens, Sam Stevens, Chris Rovery. Replacements: Jarrod Hambly, Lewis Thomas, Mawgan Osborne, Jess Tompsett, Jake Bond

Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Rovery (2), Simmons, Counter; Conversions: Cummins (3)