Redditch RFC

There remains some doubt as to whether this result will be recognised by the League's officials. The designated referee did not show up and the game was refereed by a partially qualified volunteer. It was played as a friendly though the result may stand once investigations have taken place.

 ########### Late Breaking News - The match has been deemed an Away Walk Over giving Redditch a 0-0 result and 5 League points ##########

After the first ten minutes of this game there would have been few who would have predicted the final score. Five Ways threw everything at Redditch, pinning them back on their own try line for most of the opening spell yet a resolute defence and sloppy handling meant they were rewarded with nothing. The pressure was relieved when James Mills kicked deep, Stuart Brookes retrieved the ball midfield and  he fed Owen Binns on half way who made light of his sprint to the line for the first try, James Mills converted.

If Five Ways felt aggrieved that they had gone behind against the run of play it was compounded minutes later after searching drives from Matt Allen and Mikey Essex gave room for James Mills to chip to the corner for Own Binns to gather and score another.

With confidence rising Redditch started to move the ball around a lot more, the forwards were on top winning a lot of 50/50 balls and starting to dominate the scrummages, space was being created allowing the adventurous backs to run with freedom. Connor Morris took advantage of such space to make ground and feed Leo Fanthome who outsprinted his chasers for his first score. On the other wing the forwards again punched holes allowing Sid Allen to score his first try for the first team.

Hyperlink:

Leo Fanthome was enjoying the opportunities available to him, one sprint in particular saw him weave and sidestep for 60m round a dozen defenders only to lose possession over the try line. He did however make amends minutes later finishing off an Austin Lewis- Stu Brookes combination for the fifth try of the half converted by Clarke Parker.

Five Ways still had some fight in them and slowed the game down and regained an element of possession, they scored their driving forwards try from close range rounding off the first half at 5-29.

The opening spell of the second half was relatively calm, Redditch were ruthless in the set scrum shoving the heavier home pack backwards but Five Ways had tightened up their defensive lines and less holes were there to be punished. That was until Austin Lewis made a decisive break from a another dominant scrum, he fed Clarke Parker who ran in a try from his own half, converted again by James Mills.

Hyperlink:

Jack Bacciocchi and Richie Beddard combined effectively to give space and the ball to Cal Razzak who rounded off the move for the seventh try. Captain Matt Allen had to move out to the centre, due to more injuries, and wasn't going to miss out on the fun, running out of his own 22m he speculatively kicked ahead, he was rewarded with an outrageous bounce of the ball, a classy one handed gather and a sprint for the line gave him the reward he deserved for an all round dominant display. 

Hyperlink:

In the closing minutes Matt Allen scored a second from a tap penalty move and Leo Fanthome rounded things off with his hat trick try, the final three were all converted by Owen Binns.

Despite the majority of the tries being scored by the back line it was a solid pack platform with the experienced calming influences of returning players Stu Brookes and Man of the Match Richie Beddard that was key to the victory. The combination of their know how rubbing off on the lesser experienced lads could be crucial if Redditch are to have an successful season.