Redditch RFC

Archie Beddard Brings the ball back up after another great take at the back

It was another game of two halves for Redditch on Saturday, ending up inches away from a a win, they had to be content with a losing bonus point, it could have been more.

The opening phases were evenly fought out with W pushing the offside line to the limit and running some smart lines whilst R kept the ball tight with punishing drives. The visiting flyhalf broke the deadlock with a sweeping run cutting the defensive line in half for a try that was duly converted. Their second try was fortuitous when a defensive clearance kick was charged down and the ball ricocheted handily for a touch down.

R slowly grew back into the game, W tried to take the aerial route but R fullback Archie Beddard was equal to it, fielding all the kicks and often returning many with gained ground, one of which led to an attacking move against a retreating defence with Mickey Adams leading the charge to score, converted by AB himself.

W stretched their lead with a quick tap penalty following a scrum penalty giving them a 7-19 half time lead.

The second half saw R wake up properly, their attacking drives led to a stream of penalties and though a couple proved to be just out of range AB slotted one to close the gap. Despite their dominance in the tight scrum W couldn't gain anything in open play. Their kicking game fell apart and R were finding spaces for their speedsters to capitalise. 

A carefully positioned kick to the corner left a W defender stranded with R centre Will Heath and debutant Joe Morgan competing for the ball. The full backs actions gave away a penalty try and saw him take a yellow card. 

At 17-19 for the last quarter it was a tense affair, a couple of poor decisions and narrow penalty kick miss were opportunities not taken. W Heath had a 50m break that appeared to have turned the game but he was hauled down inches short, the support runners couldn't capitalise.

W nearly stole the bonus point from R's grasp in the closing moments when a try under the posts was disallowed for a double movement. Frustration on both sides led to an ugly finish to an entertaining game that could have had a different result had opportunities not been wasted by both sides.

Will HEath clears the line