Redditch RFC

Despite the run of defeats that brought 2023 to a close, R were in a confident mood taking on the league leaders. A strong side, a calm day on a soft pitch and a determination to address shortcomings of previous weeks all put R in the right mindset to perform to their potential.

And they did.

From the opening kick off R were on the front foot, harassing the visitors, keeping them in their own half. A BE clearance kick was fielded by James Mills who fed Archie Beddard already at full pace. His weaving arcing run from 50m avoided all the defence allowing him to score the opening try. Soon afterwards AB also slotted a penalty kick to extend the lead that they held onto for the rest of a long afternoon.

The driving runs, the support play, and the variety of plays from the set piece were at a level not seen for a while. Mills at 9 and Will Spires at 10 began to dictate play, keeping the ball alive and away from the visitors danger areas. BE's clearance kicks were fielded and returned with interest, Line outs were won and scrums were generally solid.

In the pack, returning skipper Matt Allen enjoyed some crunching runs in attack, his fellow back row Tom Lipscomb and Clarke Parker were quick to snuff out any danger. BE struggled to get any momentum and hardly entered the hosts half of the pitch. When they did get to move the ball wide Cal Razzak and Will Heath in the centres soon snuffed out the moves with some memorable tackles.

The R front five had their work cut out against a much larger pack but by keeping them on the move they tired them out and reaped the rewards eventually.

Opportunities to extend the lead were spurned when kick attempts either fell short or wide and towards the end of this tense encounter it was feared they might regret not taking advantage of these chances.

It was shortly after half time that BE struck back, but even then it was not by their own design. Having won their own scrum R's clearance kick was charged down and the ball was gathered neatly with an open try line ahead of them. With the conversion missed, the score 8-5, the tension started to rise. 

A stream of injuries to both sides meant a lot of stoppages throughout the game, even the most ardent of supporters lost rack of just when the game would end. As the sun slowly set and the floodlights took over, the visitors desperately threw all they had into the fray to snatch a win, but the tenacious home defence was determined to hang on to what they had got, and they did. After at least 10 min injury time the final whistle preceded the loudest cheer of the season from players and supporters alike.

This Sat R have the opportunity to build on this performance when they travel to Bishops Castle with confidence.