Redruth the victors in Boxing Day derby

REDRUTH......21 CAMBORNE.....0

ON a day that stated at 10.30am, when Redruth’s 2nd XV ran out narrow 24-21 victors over Veor RFC, the major winner on Boxing Day was the sport of rugby in Cornwall.

For the first time in over nine months, rugby fans got to see the oval ball thrown around the Recreation Ground in competitive matches for the annual Roddas Milk Cup between Redruth and Cambrone, with the Reds tasting victory for the 156th time in 18 contests.

However, the Reds’ executive committee and match and grounds volunteers must take great credit for ensuring the games went ahead and that all in attendance were kept safe.

Warm applause greeted both teams as they ran onto the field into the Cornish mizzle and, as the game went on, increasingly high winds.

Redruth kicked off towards the Piggy Lane corner and were immediately on the attack and took the lead after three minutes through a Frazer Honey penalty.

Further Reds pressure forced another penalty and it came as a surprise that the usually immaculate Honey was off target, the ball striking the post and Camborne cleared their lines.

Camborne, with their hard working back row of Rose, Priddey and Nicholls to the fore, were getting their hands in the rucks and looking to slow the ball down at every opportunity.

The second quarter saw Reds territorial dominance but they were struggling to break down the committed Camborne defence. Eventually though the pressure told with Arron Simmonds going over in the Piggy Lane corner for an unconverted try.

The second half followed the pattern of the first with the Reds quickly adding to their tally with two well taken Honey penalties.

On 53 minutes, former Red Jon Drew earned himself 10 minutes in the sin bin with some back-chat to the referee.

Camborne, now down to 14 men, battled hard but the Reds got over the line again with a quickly taken tap-and-go penalty by live wire scrum-half Jack Oulton, who slid over the line with Honey converting well from wide out.

Despite defending with great tenacity, Camborne were unable to establish any sustained attacking moves and any visits to the Reds 22 were repelled with the Reds using the storm force wind to good effect.

Surprisingly there were no further additions to the scoreline and the Reds ran out comfortable winners.