Sat 4 Jan 2020, 14:00
Redditch's steady climb up up the league table continues following this demolition of Dixonians. Another nine tries scored but more pleasing was the nil for the opposition. In recent weeks the attacking has never been in doubt but at Rowheath on Saturday the opposition didn't get a look in, in fact they rarely transgressed into Redditch's 22m. When they did stray into unknown territory they were quickly rebuffed with full back Will Baillon having a busy afternoon running the ball back at them, more often than not with interest and being the spark for many tries..
It was his burst from deep that opened the scoring, a pass to Tom Saddington who in turn fed Jack Mertens who made it to the line, though it nearly cost him his head. It set a pattern for the day, hard direct running and close support for the off loads. It did not always pay off, many final passes strayed forward, silly penalties were given away but Dixonians were unable to capitalise on the errors.
The second try was again created by Baillon, he was hauled down short of the line but managed to off load to the ever alert Connor Morris who finished the move off. The forwards were having a decent tussle in the loose, all of them enjoying a run with the ball, breaking tackles and setting up second and third phase ball. From a 5m scrum the active James Mills at scrum half found Tom Saddington who managed to stretch out an arm to place the ball on the line.
0-19 at the break was encouraging but the Kingfishers knew they had left a lot of points on the pitch, avoidable errors had marred the performance, if they were to be serious contenders in this league they would need to eliminate the faults and capitalise on the possession and territory.
So they did.
Six tries were run in after the break, Clarke Parker collected a tricky bounce from a clearance kick and headed straight for the tryline, he was hauled down short of his target but skipper Matt Allen was on hand to pick up the pieces and score. Man of the Match Jack Bacciocchi continued, with his fellow pack members, to drive froward, at times playing skittles with the opposition. He was also responsible for a sublime off load to Stu Brooks in a busy attacking phase which ultimately led to Allen scoring another under the posts.
Replacement Will Heath was the beneficiary of the next attacking move. a forward drive, a ball spun down the line to him at outside centre and a dive to the line. Saddington found himself in an ocean of space with half the pitch to go and no great determination to prevent him scoring the seventh. Within a minute he had scored his hat trick try linking up with a move down the left wing.
By now the home hearts had had enough and the Redditch players were rampant, any opportunity to run straight was taken which led to the final try scored by Stuart Brooks who had very close in previous attacks. Special mention must go to Will Spires who converted eight out of nine tries, an 84% success rate in last two games.
This Saturday Redditch host high flying Five Ways Old Edwardians.
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