COLTS UNDER 19s CORNWALL CUP
The Under 19s won their quarter-final 12-0 at Truro on Saturday, a game played in atrocious conditions. Well done to them.
The Under 19s won their quarter-final 12-0 at Truro on Saturday, a game played in atrocious conditions. Well done to them.
Well, it’s another 4 points in the bag, but we did make hard work of it! The
game was always going to be a dour affair with Halifax scrapping for points
in the bottom half of the table to ensure their survival for next season. To
be honest the game could of gone either way in the second half and it took a
very well organised defence to keep them out. I thought there were a number
of good performances for us, none more so than Chris Fuca and Paul
Gadsdon…although Marek Churcher was my man of the match. Gadsdy had his
best game yet and did an enormous amount of work in the tackle area turning
over ball on a number of occasions. Chris Fuca is still learning but I
thought he had a good game and was prominent in the loose exchanges.
It’s a
damn shame that we have another free weekend this week as we need to build
continuity as we move into March. March will be hugely challenging with 3
away games and a home match against Launceston. Launceston had a brilliant
win at Esher on Saturday and I congratulate them on it. They have hit a rich
vein of form and it will make our encounter with them even more attractive.
We have developed a good relationship with Chris and John and are equally
respectful of each others achievements….
Its International weekend again this weekend and some difficult games to
look at…..England up in Scotland will be hard but I think England have
enough firepower to overcome the Scots so I reckon it will be Scotland 16
England 29, Wales in Ireland is a tricky one to call but I reckon Wales will
sneak it but only by a score so I think its Ireland 19 Wales 22 and finally
France against Italy…the French will win this quite easily so a prediction
of France 44 Italy 15 ….
With no game next weekend, it gives our walking wounded an opportunity to
have another weeks rest. Ben Priddey is progressing nicely and should be
back playing again this weekend. John Navin, who picked a knock up against
Manchester is still struggling, but on the mend, Julian Hosking has a leg
injury whilst Richard Carroll is now out of plaster and hopefully will be
available shortly.
The arguments rage on about the 16 team league scenario with many NCA clubs
adamant that the idea should be embraced. We have our own feelings on this
and have made them known. 16 team leagues is a good idea but clubs must be
compensated for the additional expense or at least their individual plights
should be addressed accordingly. I along with Ron Spencer and Roger Watson
have done lots of work on what the cost implications to us could be and it
is quite horrendous. I also believe that player welfare is very important as
the pressure and expectation on individuals is far greater than it ever has
been and will continue to increase. The jury is out on this one until the
March meeting….I’ll keep you informed.
We will know our Cornwall Cup Semi Final opponents this weekend when the
Truro/Hayle game takes place. It is pretty definite that the semi final will
take place on Sunday March 19th….yes, the day after our game with
Launceston! We have no other options I’m afraid…..the 5th March has been
ruled out as Cornwall are playing Devon in the Tamar Cup game, the 12th
March is a “no go” for us as we are at Orrell on the Saturday and have a 7
hour bus journey back which will leave the players in no fit state to play
on the Sunday…..so the 19th is the only option….
As a complete aside, I watched Northampton’s game with Saracens yesterday
and what a great advert for rugby. People moan about foreign players in our
game, but when you have a genius like Carlos Spencer playing for you, what
an extra dimension he adds to your game….he was outstanding! To be fair
Saracens are in turmoil again with their Head Coach booted out and now they
have Eddie Jones joining them!!…this is NOT the Eddie Jones at Barking, as
some people thought on Saturday, but the Eddie Jones who used to coach the
Aussie National team…Saracens have had their fair share of coaches and top
players over the years but have not been able to gain the success their
investments deserve…
As for this weekend, we are hopeful of getting a 2nd XV game at home…we
will update the website should we be successful…
So there we go….there are just 3 home games left this season and I
sincerely hope we get huge turnouts for those games. The crowd at the
Manchester game was as poor as I have seen at Redruth for a couple of
seasons. I know it clashed with the England-Wales game and it had an obvious
effect, Saturday’s crowd was better but still not quite where we would of
hoped…..so please come along and cheer the boys on…you do make a huge
difference!
That’s about it for now…will have a few notes next week…
David Penberthy
Rugby Manager
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Redruth gained revenge over Halifax, last season’s National Three North Champions, cementing the Reds in sixth place, whilst leaving the Northerners fighting for their lives to avoid relegation, making their trip to bottom-placed Orrell next Saturday the proverbial 10 pointer.
Darren Jacques drives over for the opening score
Referee Mr Parker-Sedgemore signals the five points
Cooky soars in front of a packed stand
Dan just about makes it
The Reds bench reflect on a few missed opportunities
More photos on the Gallery section
This was an entertaining even game with few stoppages for a change; both sides had seemingly long periods of pressure without scoring. Redruth playing down the slope opened the scoring after ten minutes when Darrren Jacques drove over for the try Marek Churcher converting. Halifax put pressure on Redruth from the kick off and after a period Redruth had a defending scrum, there was a mix up in clearing the ball and Halifax fly half Tom Eaton seized the ball to touch down the try. It was now Redruth
Now just before people start asking why am I late this week…I’ve been on holiday for a couple of days and away from my PC…..
So no game on Saturday owing to frost on the Orrell pitch. I am very grateful to Jim Lloyd at Orrell for calling the game off when he did which enabled us to cancel our travelling and accommodation arrangements in good time so that we did not incur extra costs.
There was a bit of a conflab over procedure in how the game was called off but, just for reassurance, Jim rang me again on Saturday morning to confirm that further heavy frost made the pitch totally unplayable….so we now travel to Orrell on March 11th….
Congratulations to Lewis Vinnicombe who has been selected for the England Counties Playing Squad to play the French Amateurs, in France, on March 11th. Lewis is another product of our Colts team and has performed well this season to attract the attention of the National selectors. It’s also a fair reflection on the players around Lewis who have provided him with quality ball to enable him to score 10 tries to date. I hope Lewis takes advantage of this great opportunity and learns things that will make him a better player so that both himself and the club can benefit. Lewis becomes the first Reds player to gain an International honour at this level.
Congratulations also to Scott Hobson who gained his England Under 19 International cap against Italy last weekend. This is a deserved honour for Scott and all of us at the club wish him well for the future.
As I reported in a separate statement last week, PJ Gidlow had both charges of “Striking An Opponent”, in the game against Stourbridge back in December,dropped at an RFU Disciplinary Hearing in Bristol last Tuesday night. This was a relief to all of us, but don’t think for one minute think that we everthought he was guilty. I do seriously believe that a complete revamp of the citing process is required to overcome such debacles happening in the future. If an offence goes unpunished and a club/person etc seriously believes it warranted a red card, then proceed, but for such innocuous actions that happened here, it was just ridiculous. There we go, anotherchapter closed on the disciplinary front this season.
Onto Saturday’s game and we see Halifax visit the Recreation Ground for the 2nd time (the last in 1950 !). We lost at Halifax back in October and had Richard Carroll and Sam Heard both binned for foul play. Richard was subsequently cited and we still await the outcome of that. Hopefully Saturday’s game will be without incident and we can all enjoy a good game of rugby.
As mentioned previously, our game against Launceston is on Saturday March 19th with a 3:00pm kick off. The ground is going to be open early and there will be plenty of places to get drink and food. At 5:30pm England play Ireland at Twickenham – this will be shown in the clubhouse, and there is talk of having entertainment!…so make a day of it! For definite detailskeep an eye on the website, papers and on club notice boards.
I see the supporters trip to Wharfedale at the end of the season is now full. What a great weekend you lot will have…I believe you are in Leeds for a couple of nights which is probably just as well as our do is in Birmingham!…..I suppose its possible we may meet up at the Weary Traveller on the Sunday lunchtime though!!!!
You will be glad to know that the Internationals take a break this weekend so no forecasting..for what its worth!
Our Cornwall Cup Semi Finalists, either Hayle or Truro, will be known on the 25th February. The semi final will then be played on one of the next 3 weekends. Yes, we have 3 league games in that period so we will have to play “back to back” games. I’ll let you know as soon as I know when the fixture will be….
So, the RFU look as if they have decided to withhold judgement on the planned 16 team league scenario for next season. This is good news for us financially as we would of lost out considerably had the plans gone forward.However it is likely to come back on the agenda in the very near future, butat least it gives us a bit more time to plough through the detail, have discussions where needed and ensure that we can provide the necessary finance to ensure we are able to compete at this high level in thefuture……Believe me its bloody hard work maintaining this product both on and off the field. I believe clubs further “up country” live in a dreamworld as far as expenditure etc is concerned…..Those of you interested in how all this works must make a point of coming to the AGM in May and listen to reports from members of the Executive who are responsible for the running and operation of the club.
Finally, congratulations to the Colts who progressed to the last 8 of theNational Colts Cup. They beat Brixham on Sunday in a really entertaining game and now travel to Hertford for the quarter final. There were some good performances for players that bodes well for the future. Good luck in thenext round guys!
David Penberthy
Rugby Manager
Some recent photos taken by local photographer Lee Edgson, available for all your sporting events on 07970 642254.
The new Redruth programme, available for a limited time only at the Launceston game, will feature some of Lee’s work.
Redruth under 17s made the long journey to Clifton at the weekend.
Being depleated of numbers due to the Colts Cup commitments the 17′s were boosted with players from the under 16′s squad.
Their opponents were Reading in this National cup fixture. Reading had a far stronger squad than the Reds, and the match was a tough physical challenge, with the referee handing out 7 yellow and 2 reds cards all for foul play.
This National Cup was a great experience for the young under 16′s who step up to Colts next year.
The spirt of the lads was not dampen although they did not win (score not known), with the bus journey home being a lot of fun.
Thanks from the squad goes to Phil Bristow for taking the team and for Adam Butcher for captaining on the day.
Report from Ashley Hosking
A bright sunny morning on a pitch that was very narrow saw a subdued Reds side win again.
Without the width to set our runners moving the team seemed not their usual selves. However the strong running of Will Harris and Harvey Bell ensured that we pushed back our opponents.
Tries soon followed with Will, Josh, William and Aaron going over. The match became even scrappier when the referee changed at half time.
The number of chances dried up and things gradually fizzled out. Though the Reds did fashion one more score, through Jack with Joel and the Perran’s both involved.
Final Score Wadebridge 10 Redruth 25
Redruth Under 14′s 55 Bude Under 14′s 5
The Reds Under 14′s travelled to Bude for their Cup Quarter Final on Sunday. The weather was fine but the pitch was very heavy.
The Reds kicked off playing towards the club house and went ahead with a Kieron Thomas try after 4 minutes which was converted by Aaron Penberthy. The Reds were looking good and you could see that the coaching given by 1st XV players Dan Goodwin and PJ Gidlow was paying off. Ben Drew scored the next try, the best of the game, after some 8 phases of play. The Reds continued to play at fast pace and scored further tries by Matt Wedlake-Millicombe, Ben Gregor and Kieron Thomas with Aaron Penberthy converting one for a half time lead of 29-0.
Liam Norwell replaced Matt Wedlake-Millicombe at the start of the 2nd half and was immediately on the score sheet with a well taken try in the corner. Bude put up stout resistance and did put pressure on the Reds line but further tries from Thomas, Gregor, Damien Lynes and Dean Bonds along with 3 conversions from Aaron Penberthy made the tie safe.
Bude did get a consolation try at the end, but the Reds now go through to a semi final home tie with Camborne on Sunday 5th March ko 11:00am.
David Penberthy
Following their exciting National Colts Cup win over Brixham, Redruth Colts have been drawn AWAY to HERTFORD in the Quarter-Finals, game to be played within the next three weeks. This weekend, the Under-18s play at Liskeard, k.o.3pm, and the Under-17s are at Penryn.
Wadebridge 0 Reds 21
Wadebridge 7 Reds 33
Another good win for the Reds a Wadebridge side who had some good players but didn’t play as a team.
The Reds got off to a sluggish start, uncharactaristacally dropping passes, probable due to the late start. Once they had switched on they started to dominate all areas of play. Dan Eathorne opened the scoring, Scott Gregor pushed him over after Wadebridge looked as though they might hold out, Steve Trenoweth converted. Dirk Moodie broke free to score the second running from halfway, Dan Eathorne converted. Kieran Young added a third with a typical charging run breaking through the home defence, Steve added the conversion to make the score 21 – 0.
The second game saw the Reds make changes, but it did not effect their play, tries by Dan Eathorne, Steve Trenoweth and Kieran Young put the game beyond reach before Wadebridge got a consilation. Reds then finished the game with two good tries by Dirk Moodie, with Steve Trenoweth and Dan Eathorne getting the conversions to round off another excellent team performance.
Under 11′s County Festival Sunday March 19th
The Redruth Under 11′s are hosting the County Festival next month and if anybody would like to place an advert in the programme or donate a raffle prize, please contact Nigel or Karen Eathorne on 01209 718154.