A treble for Ducker as defence is cast aside

A HAT-TRICK of tries from Redruth’s Alex Ducker took centre stage, but there were cameo performances on both sides to enthral the crowd as the defence manuals were cast aside.

It was an entertaining end-to-end game and Redruth head coach Pale Nonu was relieved that his side got the win.

“It was nerve-racking to watch as a coach,” he said.

“Both sides seemed intent on running the ball from everywhere but thankfully we got the five points in the end.

“A lot of people will point to the performance of Ducker, and rightly so, but there were others who showed up well.

“We concentrated on attack all week in training and we expressed ourselves really well.”

Within a minute of kickoff, Ducker was under the posts as he snaffled a stray pass from the Hawks to sprint clear, allowing Richie Kevern to land the first of his seven conversions.

Henley replied immediately when Jack Robinson sped in for their first try allowing George Jackson to tie the scores with the first of his four conversions.

A catch and drive led to Redruth recapturing the lead, thanks to skipper Richard Brown, but once again Henley replied in kind as George Primett powered over.

Midway through the half, Ducker again broke away, sprinting clear to score under the sticks.

Forward pressure led to Redruth’s fourth try, with Brown again emerging from the pile of bodies to claim the try.

Robinson split the home defence to bag his second try of the game just before half-time to keep the Hawks in it.

Early pressure from Henley led to them scoring an unconverted try through a catch and drive, with Primett bagging his second.

Redruth then managed to get some daylight on the scoreboard when Ducker completed his hat-trick with a mesmerising run.

Then, three minutes later, a Hawks error led to a counter by the Reds from their own half finished in style by AJ Cant.

Henley refused to lie down as Sam Portland latched on to a chip through to score their fifth try.

Redruth got back into the Henley 22 and, from a line-out, the ball came to Rob Coote who found a gap to score tryNo. 7.

Both sides looked for further scores and it was Henley who had the final say right on time.

Scott Wight was driven over with the Reds down to 14 men.

Hawks head coach Peter Davies was disappointed not have got more from the game.

“We committed too many errors and paid for it,” he said. “We worked hard for our scores only to gift them a reply. Having said that, the better team won, but to score six tries and only come away with a point is frustrating.”