On-song Redruth show no mercy to struggling Westcliff with a nine-try victory

REDRUTH stretched their unbeaten league run to 19 matches with a nine try, 57-7 win at bottom of the table Westcliff.

While the result was never in doubt, trailing by 31 points at the interval Westcliff earned respect for a spirited second half performance when they took the game to the Reds.

Westcliff were the last team to beat the Reds in a league match back in November 2019, since then they have moved ground albeit only by a few hundred yards on the perimeter of Southend airport and have three pitches one of which is floodlit and a plush new clubhouse. Unfortunately they have been hit by injuries and look set for a tough season.

The hosts kicked off and Redruth were soon into the home 22 but it was ten minutes before skipper Sam Stevens ran a good line to take a Jack Oulton pass and touchdown a try that Fraser Honey converted.

The Reds continued to dominate, the home scrum was strong but their line out collapsed with the Reds benefiting several times. Craig Williams burrowed over from close range after 19 minutes for an unconverted try.

A similar effort from Richard Brown after 25 minutes saw Redruth take a comfortable 19 point lead.

A strong run from Will Trewin who had an impressive game recorded the bonus point try after 31 minutes following a strong run, Honey converting. Steel Barker ran in a try after slipping a tackle 10 meters out just before the break.

Westcliff showed their intent to have a go right from the start and the Reds had to stay switched on in defence.

On 57 minutes, following a gallop by Barker, Dean Bonds did well to take a pass from Jack Simmons to touchdown an unconverted try.

Going into the final quarter Redruth started to pull away again with Trewin touching down his second try which he also converted before Oulton broke from a scrum to dot down under the crossbar, Trewin converting to bring up the half century of points.

Westcliff responded with an astute cross field chip from Jack Jones that Bonds was unable to cover and Seyi Ajeigbe gathered and was able to stretch out and just make the whitewash for a consolation try that skipper Greg Bannister converted left footed from the touchline.

In the final play of the game, good footwork from Kyle Bradley saw him beat his man and run through the cover for the Reds ninth try.