Redruth 28 Shelford 36
Redruth slipped to a fourth consecutive defeat as Shelford came from behind to take the spoils at a shell-shocked Recreation Ground, reports Bill Hooper.
A lack of control and precision haunted the Redruth performance throughout the game. Shelford sensed that the home side were there for the taking, to their credit they took their opportunity scoring five tries to avenge Redruth's win on their own patch back in November.
The omens weren't good for the Reds when they lost No.8 Owen Hambly during the warm up to a muscle spasm.
Young Jake Rayment stepped up from the bench to play in the back row with skipper Chris Fuca moving to No.8.
Redruth began the game encouragingly; an early penalty from Paul Thirlby got them on the board, Thirlby then added the conversion to a fine try from winger Tom Notman in the scoreboard corner.
Shelford had already shown to carry a threat with their big No.8 Aki Lea making some telling bursts. They made the most of some slack Redruth defending when scrum-half Charlie Baker snipped through to score, Adam White added the conversion.
Redruth's own scrum-half Greg Goodfellow was showing some fine form with a couple of great breaks, it came as no surprise that the Red's No.9 should score their second try just before half-time from one such break, Thirlby's conversion giving Redurth a deserved 15-7 advantage at the turn.
Immediately after half-time Shelford struck, again the dangerous Lea was involved in the build up which eventually saw fellow back row Jamie Cullen squeeze over for an un-converted try.
Prop Darren Jacques constantly carried a threat for the Reds with some powerful carries and was deservedly named man-of-the-match.
Redruth responded with a couple of penalties from the boot of Thirlby to stretch their advantage to 21-12.
Back came the visitors with replacement Jake Billows finishing off a catch and drive to score Shelford's third try. Richard Brady's conversion cut Redruth's lead to just two points 21-19.
Redruth exerted pressure down in Hell fire corner with a series of scrums that eventually saw referee Mr Maxwell-Keys award a penalty try, Thirlby's conversion giving Redruth a 28-19 advantage.
However, it was the visitors who finished the stronger. Baker scored his second try of the game as he squeezed over to claim the try-scoring bonus point. Brady added the conversion as he did a penalty shortly after to put Shelford 34-28 up.
Redruth couldn't even hold on to the losing bonus point as Shelford scored a fifth try through lock Redmond Newberry with Brady adding the extras to secure 36-28 win and make their Easter trip to Cornwall a happy one.
Redruth 28 pts
Tries – Notman, Goodfellow, Penalty-try, Penalties – Thirlby (3), Conversions – Thirlby (2)
Shelford 36 pts
Tries – Baker (2), Cullen, Billows, Newberry, Penalty – Brady, Conversions – White, Brady (3)
Yellow Card – Billows (80)
Redruth: M Westren, T Notman, C Bonds, S Evans, D Bonds (F Kellythorn 63) P Thirlby (A Hosking 72), G Goodfellow; D Jacques, R Brown (N Turner 53) C Williams (J Drew 63), D Cook, L Collins, J Rayment (M Gidlow 50), R Heath, C Fuca (Capt)
Shelford: S Chiwanga, M Johnson, A Barnard, R Brady, J Naylor, A White, C Baker; M Anderson (L Beales 53), N Conroy (Capt), S Mullins (M Gregerson 48), E Mills, R Newberry, S Jackowski (J Billows 46), J Cullen (A Hutchinson 49) A Lea
Referee: Mr Craig Maxwell-Keys
Crowd: 746
