Redditch RFC

The score may give the impression the game was a romp for the home side, well it was for their Colt who ran in five tries, but the rest of the game was a closely battled encounter with R giving a very good account of themselves. For the majority of the first half play was entrenched in the Old L half, with R using their impact runners to punch holes in a defence which was equal to the attacks. 

However as soon as the ball was turned over the OL attacking strength showed up and tries were run in from all directions. Despite the first attack being held up over the line by Jon Beale and Harvey Habgood, they had more success with ensuing attempts running in six unanswered tries to give a 38 - 0 lead just before half time. 

The score did not reflect the way the game had been played. R were dominant in the scrums, winning penalties galore with their powerful pushes. Their mauling drives gained ground and the more they kept the game tight, the more success they gained, which came to a peak when Tyler Monger broke and dived to the line from a driving maul just before the break.

Straight from the restart OL attacked for their seventh try and thought they had the game sown up. But with the breeze behind them and desire not to be humiliated, R bounced back in style, rocking the home side with four tries in 15 mins to gain a try scoring bonus point. 

Aaron Atkinson heads to the try line.

A clinical passage of passing along the backs gave full back and acting skipper Aaron Atkinson the corner to score in. Craig Martin used his long reach to stretch for a touchdown following forward dominance. Jon Beale deservedly got on the score sheet finding a gap on the line, and Matt Allen took advantage of a quick tap penalty to barge his way to 5 points, James Mills adding one conversion to bring the scores to 45- 27, and a lot of worried faces on the home supporters.

The comeback couldn't be maintained, the deciding factor being R's hand full of veterans were no match for the sidestepping sprinters who ran in two final tries to round off the game.

This Sat R are at home v Stourport 3.00 ko