Reds lose unbeaten record after late try at the Rec

REDRUTH’S unbeaten start to the season finally came to an end on Saturday as second-placed Hinckley ground out a deserved 15-8 success at The Recreation Ground.

The Reds had won all seven outings to start the season, but found their Leicestershire visitors an incredibly tough nut to crack.

Director of rugby Richie Kevern made two changes from the one that eased past Lymm a fortnight earlier. Young No.8 Finn Wolstencroft was preferred to powerhouse Rob Baragwanath at the back of the scrum, while Luke Johnson returned at full-back in place of Adam Hall. New signing Harry Larkins, who has returned to the club from neighbours Camborne, wasn’t involved.

On a perfect day for rugby in West Cornwall, a large crowd was in attendance, but it was the visitors that started the better. Home lock Luke Hattam did superbly to get underneath hooker Sam McNulty as he appeared to have scored, but they did fall behind 23 minutes in as Devon Coulson charged over.

The kick was missed, but home fly-half Joe Cummins got the hosts on the scoreboard just before the half-hour with a penalty.

Both teams took turns to attack, but the Reds went ahead on 51 minutes with centre Connor Gilbert crossing for an unconverted try (8-5).

However, that seemed to wake the visitors up with Tom Addison levelling the scores on the hour to set up a thrilling final quarter, one which Hinckley edged when they grabbed a converted try from Benji Clarke with six minutes remaining.

Redruth remain four points clear at the top ahead of Saturday’s trip to mid-table Cinderford (3pm).

REDRUTH: Luke Johnson; Noah Clifford, Jack Simmons (capt), Connor Gilbert, Jack Counter; Joe Cummins, Sam Bray; Rohan Ewels, Tom Cowan-Dickie, Tyler Gendall; Luke Hattam, Todd Prisk; Mawgan Osborne, Will Symons, Finn Wolstencroft. Replacements: Jarrod Hambly, Cam Leigh, Aden Brassington, Rob Baragwanath, Finn Love.

Tries: Gilbert; Convs: N/A; Pens: Cummins.

Reds’ man-of-the-match: Todd Prisk.