REDRUTH 49 – 6 SOUTHEND

Redruth put in a tremendous all round performance to deservedly record their biggest win of the season at the Recreation Ground over spirited opponents Southend, reports Bill Hooper.

Despite looking the better side Redruth lead just 9-3 after 23 minutes, with three Aaron Penberthy penalties against a sole reply from Seasiders’ full back Andrew Frost.

The breakthrough came just a couple of minutes later as scrum half Greg Goodfellow fed centre Tom Cooper – another player from the Cornish Pirates looking for game time following injury – the centre showed some lovely footwork to set up Rhodri McAtee for the Reds opening try.

Penberthy couldn’t add the conversion, but it was the only kick he missed at goal out of nine attempts.

Spurred on by the try Redruth maintained the pressure with the forwards getting the upper hand in the set-piece.

Redruth got a second try before half-time with some quick thinking from man of the match No.8 Tom Duncan who took a quick tap penalty near the Southend line to power over after 36 minutes.

Southend looked for a score before half-time with a period of pressure up in the Piggy Lane corner seeing them get a penalty with McAtee sent to the sin bin for the Reds for killing the ball. Frost kicked a second penalty for the visitors with the final kick of the half.

Redruth carried on in the second half despite being a man down for the first ten minutes with Penberthy getting his first try for the Reds after 48 minutes following good work from Cooper and prop Peter Joyce.

Ten minutes later the try-scoring bonus point was secured with McAtee again at the heart of the move with flanker Owen Hambly in support to feed winger Nathan Pedley who crossed for the fourth Reds’ try.

The best try of the afternoon came after 63 minutes when Redruth’s skipper Craig Bonds looked to move the ball from near his own line, McAtee took the ball near his own twenty-two before setting off on a long run towards the Piggy Lane corner, he looked certain to score, the Southend cover scrambled across, however Hambly was in support to take the inside pass and score under the posts.

Then to round off the try scoring the Welsh Whippet showed his renowned seven’s pace scoring the Reds’ fifth try following a good break from replacement hooker Darren Semmens, scoring with aplomb in Hell Fire corner to put the seal on a great performance.

Redruth 49 pts

Tries – McAtee (2), Duncan, Penberthy, Pedley, Hambly, Conversions – Penberthy (5), Penalties – Penberthy (3)

Yellow Card – McAtee (40)

Southend 6pts

Penalties – Frost (2)

Referee: Fergus Kirby (RFU)

It’s not good for the “old ticker” watching Redruth – mind you the same can be said for the Cornish Pirates, especially after they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday at Bristol – but despite the on-going defensive frailities it was good to see the class and pace of Welsh 7’s star Rhodri McAtee in a Redruth shirt. OK he may only be with Redruth for a couple of weeks, and lucky for him he hasn’t got to travel as Redruth have got two home games on the trot during his loan period, his first try was a piece of individual brilliance which perfectly illustrated his tag of “Welsh Whippet”. Taking the ball then setting off on a diagonal run cross-field, to run-around the defence as if they were statues, then plonk the ball down behind the try-line. Marvellous. His second was just as good, on-hand to take the pass from Chris Fuca (what a season he’s having again).

However, Rhodri’s magic can’t hide the fact that Redruth’s defence is quite frankly poor! Poor Dave Penberthy must be tearing his hair out as week in week out we seem to talk about the same problems but still the players seem to be committing the same errors week after week, why? Is the question that the Redruth faithful keep asking.

You can read my report from the game on the Trelawny’s Army site, just follow the link here.

While tapping away on my match report yesterday afternoon for the WEST BRITON (sorry you’ll have to wait until Thursday for that one!) I was glued to the radio listening to the Pirates match up at the Memorial Stadium against Bristol all looked to be going .Tries from Andrew Suniula a brace from all action hooker Dave Ward and another express special from Dave Doherty had the Pirates well in command after 50 minutes at 28-10. Despite scoring a fifth try from Cornishman Tom Kessell on at scrum-half for injured skipper Gavin Cattle, the Pirates let Bristol off the hook and back they came to sneak a very good win 37-33. Can’t imagine High Performace Manager Chris Stirling will have been too impressed with his team’s failure to secure the result, which is something they will need to do should they qualify for the final stages of the RFU Championship play-offs. Once again you can read the match report and quotes from Dick Straughan’s report for the Western Morning News  in the link here quotes in this link.

The Cornish All Blacks continue to pull away from the bottom part of the table with a welcome 39-17 win over Barnes at Polson Bridge. Good to see our player of the year Ben Hilton on the scoresheet again with a couple of tries against the londoners. Dick Benson -Gyles report from the Western Morning News again in the link here

In Tribute South West 1 West, match of the day was at Camborne where the Cherry & Whites took on Wadebridge Camels running out comfortable winners by 37-6 with Joe Parma scoring three of Town’s six tries. Meanwhile Penryn lost at home to Avonmouth OB’s by 8-5, centre Will Payne getting the Borough’s try.

News from acoss the Tamar today as Plymouth Albion announce that Director of Rugby Graham Dawe and the club have parted company. Former Exeter Chiefs head coach Pete Drewett takes over at the Brickfields. I have nothing but total admiration for Dawsey for all he has achieved both as a player and coach and wish him well as I am sure all members of Trelawny’s Army do in whatever role he takes up next in rugby.

SIMPLE  words, but on Thursday 17th November 2011 it is to be hoped that Cornwall Council do just that and clear the way for the Stadium for Cornwall to be built. Without it then the dreams and hopes of many will wither and die and I doubt very much, certainly in my lifetime, that we will see the oppourtunity again and Cornwall will be just another back water of sport with just memories of a long gone era and the young will be left with bitter regrets that they too will have to pack up and go if they want to persue their dreams on the sporting field.

I hope that our elected represenatives will see the opportunities and make the bold choice for the good of youth of today and future generations.

I am afraid that “dreckly” this time just won’t do!

What a gutsy performance on Friday night in the teeth of an Irish gale by the Cornish Pirates to dig deep and earn a great win 10 – 6 against Munster in the rural settings of Clonmel in the British & Irish Cup, which may well be in it’s final year. I am fed up with the RFU’s total mis-management of this competition, which on the face of it should be a great one but has been reduced to an utter farce, through tinkering and the failure to find a sponsor. Read Phil Westren’s account from the official Pirates’ site here.

Nights like the one in Clonmel should be forging the competition, which for all Cornish Pirates supporters has a special place. I for one relish cross-border competition, it is refreshing and breaks the run-of-the-mill fare of the current Championship, which is also still in need of a sponsor! Is there no hope!!

In National League 2 South, I think it’s safe to say that neither the Cornish All Blacks nor Redruth are going to be in the mix for promotion this season. Both sides suffered defeats on the road, Launceston at leaders Richmond 38-15, you can read Dick Benson Gyles match report here, whilst the Reds were humbled at Old Albanians 50-7, you can read Ed Bawden’s match report here.  Not a good omen if you are a Cornwall supporter as Cornwall must travel to Hertfordshire next May in the Bill Beaumont Cup. It will take a very good well-prepared team to get a result at last season’s county finalists.

In Tribute South West 1 West, a good day for both Camborne and Penryn, but another defeat for Wadebridge Camels. The Cherry & Whites won at Cleve 14-13, whilst the Borough won at Thornbury 20-13 with James Mann crossing twice for Penryn. Camels endured another tough day as visitors Clevedon ranout  winners 49-3 at the Molesworth Field. You can read the Western Morning News roundup for Tribute South West 1 West here.

In the Tribute Western Counties West St. Austell are second following another fine win this time at Bude 43-6. Scrum-half Matt Shepherd dotted down a couple of tries and kicked four conversions.

Hayle remain top of the Tribute Cornwall & Devon league after a 12-0 win over Plymouth Barbarians.

In Cornwall 1 Saltash lead the way after winning at St. Just 33-15 in the top-of-the-table encounter, whilst St. Agnes head Cornwall 2 after defeating Camelford 69-7.

From the Cornish Pirates’ media officer Phil Westren

The songs says it’s a long way to Tipperary and on Friday
evening the Cornish Pirates will travel to the Irish county on what will be a
rare visit to the Emerald Isle. They will actually fly during the day from
Exeter to Dublin and then travel on to Clonmel RFC where Munster ‘A’ await in
the British & Irish Cup competition. The kick-off is at 7pm.

This will be a game between the first-ever finalists, it
remembered that the Pirates beat the might of Munster 23-14 at Camborne in May,
2010.

The Pirates have comfortably won their opening two games in
the Cup against Bristol Rugby and Plymouth Albion and presently top Pool One,
but they know a much sterner test awaits in Ireland against a side playing its
first game of the season in the competition.

There are several changes to the Cornish Pirates team from
the one that won well at home to Rotherham Titans on Sunday, including the
selection at full-back of Canadian international Matt Evans who is set to make
his debut for a side that will be skippered on the night by flanker Chris
Morgan.

Cornish Pirates:   M. Evans, R. McAtee, D. Locke, S. Hill, D.
Doherty, R. Cook, T. Kessell, K. Marriott, C. Walker-Blair, C. Morgan (capt),
I. Nimmo, L. McGlone, C. Rimmer, D. Ward, R. Storer.

Replacements:   T.Cowan-Dickie, R,. Elloway, P. Andrew, B. Cowan, P. Burgess, G. Cattle, R. Westren.

BBC Radio Cornwall have confirmed that they will be unable
to provide coverage of the match, which is a decision fully understood at this
particular time. However, the Cornish Pirates will provide regular updates from
Clonmel on both their Twitter and Facebook

For further information visit www.cornish-pirates.com

Note:   Now in its third year of competition, the British & Irish Cuponce again involves 12 teams
from the English RFU Championship, six from the Welsh Principality Premiership,
Irish provinces Munster, Leinster and Ulster and three Scottish sides, Melrose,
Currie and Ayr.

The Cup has this season switched to a cross-pool format,
meaning each club gets two home games and two away games. As a result the teams
in Pool One will face Pool Two sides, Pool Three will take on Pool Four and
Pool Five tackle Pool Six, with the winners of each group and best two
runners-up progressing to the quarter-finals.

INFORMATION ON THE MUNSTER SIDE FOR TOMORROW FROM MUNSTER BRANCH SITE

Munster have named a strong side that includes internationals Mick O’Driscoll and Peter Stringer for the British & Irish Cup clash with Cornish Pirates at Clonmel RFC tomorrow evening (7pm).

TAKEN FROM THE WEST BRITON WEB SITE

Youth rugby

Cornwall U18 22, Berkshire 13

After a below par display in their opening SW Championship fixture, resulting
in a 32-17 defeat to Buckinghamshire, Cornwall travelled to Bristol for their
second fixture.

Playing against a strong wind an early penalty was conceded to give their
opponents a 3-0 lead before a turnover inside their own 22 saw the quick
Berkshire backs spread the ball and good support play saw them open their try
account and a further penalty eased them into 13-0 lead before a penalty from
Danny Thomas brought the score back to 13-3.

Right on half time a driving maul set up from a lineout close to their line
saw the Cornish pack crash over with skipper Mike Wright claiming the score.

In the second half powerful pack play laid the basis of a more dominant
display with several powerful surges only being stopped by illegal Berkshire
play, resulting finally in a yellow card, before Aaron Bennetts finally crashed
over with Danny Thomas converting.

There was no stopping the black and golds’ pack again and Luke Tidball
finished off good sustained pressure with a try which Thomas converted to secure
a well merited victory 22-13.

For Cornwall forwards Mike Wright, Neil Broadbank and Jack house all thrived
in the tight while Brandon Roth, who came off the bench along with Luke Tidball
and Robin Wedlake looked threatening in the three quarters and ensured Cornwall
will travel to Okehampton this Sunday for the crunch local derby against Devon
(2.30pm) in fine spirits.

By Bill Hooper, at the Memorial Ground, Penryn.

Penryn drive forward into the Clevedon half

ith almost the final play of the game, as the gloom
started to shroud the Memorial Ground, flanker Phil Hinchley grabbed Penryn’s
fourth try at the college end to claim all five points in a well deserved 32-13
win against a plucky Clevedon side.

Despite falling behind to a try scored by the visitor’s
flanker Harvey Russell after just ten minutes. Penryn didn’t panic and calmly
worked their way back to wrest control.

Goal kicking was to prove a lottery in the tricky
conditions, luckily full back Rob Banks had his kicking boots on as he kicked
two first half penalties along with a drop-goal from fly-half Mike Creeden to add to the three tries Penryn ran in to establish a commanding 24-8 lead at the break.

Having opened his account with a penalty on seventeen
minutes, Banks couldn’t better right winger Josh Chamber’s score as Borough nudged
ahead 8-5 after twenty-seven minutes.

Centre Mike Taylor levelled matters with a penalty
shortly after, before Penryn pulled away before half-time, Banks grabbed
Penryn’s second try as well as adding two further penalties. Penryn’s third try
came again from left wing James Martin just prior to half-time.

The Borough pack get the nudge

The second half was a much scrappier affair with referee
Ryan Cook frequently penalizing the home side much to the frustration of the
vociferous home supporters.

Clevedon eventually capitalised scoring a second try with
Russell getting his second  of the game for the visitors.

Penryn’s pack, despite losing skipper Sam Harrison early
in the game due to a dislocated finger were rampant, with James Mann at No.8 punching
big holes along with fellow back rowers Hinchley and Jordan Rose. Kevin Hughes
again rolling back the years, with a solid performance, alongside George Jones
in the boiler house.

Borough nudged their lead with Banks’ third penalty after sixty minutes when Clevedon were down to fourteen men

before Hinchley grabbed the fourth try bonus point try near the end.

Penryn 32 pts

Tries- Chambers, Banks, Martin, Hinchley, Penalties –
Banks (3), Drop-goal- Creeden

Clevedon 13pts

Tries – Russell (2), Penalty – Taylor

Penryn: Banks, Chambers, Vague, Paine, Martin, Creeden,
Peacock; Williams, Harrison (capt), Pattison, Jones, Hughes, Rose, Hinchley,
Mann

Replacements (all used): James-Mills, Ashwin, Kirk

Clevedon: Perry, Carpenter, Ashfield, Taylor, Johns, Thie
(capt), Towers; Smith, Williams, Dauncey, Giltrow, Hunt, Biggins, Russell,
Rawle

Replacements (all used): Jones, Shopland, James

Referee: Ryan Cook (CRRS)

Star man James Mann always busy and at the heart of the Borough’s attacks

Esher made the Cornish Pirates work hard for their 34-18 win at the Mennaye yesterday afternoon in the RFU Championship.

An entertaining game saw seven tries scored with the Pirates getting five. Winger Dave Doherty again showed his prowess with a brace, whilst

other tries came from lock Mike Myerscough, hooker Rob Elloway and replacement scrum-half Tom Kessell. Full back Rob Cook  did well to kick three conversions

and a penalty in very windy conditions.

I thought Myerscough had a good game amongst the forwards, in the backs apart from “The Doc’s” finishing, Drew Locke showed another side to

his game with some crunching tackles. USA RWC star Andrew Suniula came off the bench to make his debut for the Pirates showing promise.

You can read Bill Sobey’s match report from the Western Morning News in the link  

In National 2 South, a good day for both our Cornish clubs as Redruth bounced back from their heavy defeat last week at Richmond by defeating another London

side Barnes 56-22 at the Rec. The star of the show was the half-back partnership of Greg Goodfellow and Aaron Penberthy. Goodfellow scored two great tries, whilst Penberthy

converted all eight tries. Penberthy will probably remember the game for another reason, going off for a cut that never was. Penberthy left the field with what looked

like blood, but he couldn’t feel where it was coming from. The medics quickly cleaned him up but they too couldn’t find any cut! All the player can remember is being

slapped on the side of the face and the next thing being covered in what appears to be a red dye!

You can read Bill Sobey’s match report from the Western Morning News in the link 

The Cornish All Blacks got only their second win of the season when they defeated Henley Hawks 28-12 at Polson. Good to see our TASC Player of the Year Ben Hilton

grabbing two of the All Blacks four tries. Dick Benson-Gyles WMN report can be found in the link.

In Tribute South West 1 West, the Cornish derby up at the Molesworth field went the way of visitors Penryn who defeated Wadebridge Camels 18-11. Whilst Camborne

found Brixham and former player Ian Morgan too hot to handle as they lost 30-20 at the Fishermen.

I have deliberatly steered clear from RWC 2011, but now that the final has been played and the medals and cup awarded I will make one or two comments.

First and foremost warmest congratulations to New Zealand on their 8 – 7 win over France in the final and for hosting a brilliant tournament.

Unquestionably the best team won the cup.

England will have a tough act to follow in 2015 if they manage to sort themselves out in time from their present mess both on and off the field.

France in the end showed us that they can play and put in the big performance, on another day the result in the final could have gone their way.

A lot of rubbish was written about this French team in the build up and during the knock out stages, hopefully a lesson will have been learn’t by those who wrote it!

Wales were magnificent, we now wait to see a confirmation of the promise during the RBS 6 Nations in 2012.

I loved Phil Vickery’s commentary, his passion for the game just came through, a bright spark in an otherwise dull ITV effort,

though I do like Martin Gillingham having got used to his commentary on ESPN for the Orange Top 14.

An eight try win over London side Barnes was just the tonic
required by Redruth to help erase memories of last Saturday’s National League 2
South defeat in the capital to Richmond, reports Bill Hooper at the Recreation
Ground.

Aaron Penberthy marked his starting return following
injury at fly-half with an impressive eight conversions in a faultless kicking
display coupled with excellent marshalling of the game from the pivotal
position. His partnership with man-of-the-match scrum-half Greg Goodfellow left
the Redruth crowd purring with admiration with the promise of more to come from
this exciting combination as the season unfurls.

It was Penberthy’s long kick up-field that set up the
Reds’ opening try after just 2 minutes, the ball bouncing into the arms of full
back Brett Rule who almost made the line only to be brought down short,
thankfully centre Jamie Semmens was on hand to finish the move.

Barnes had a golden opportunity to score a try moments
after but the chance went begging as winger David Butler dropped the ball with
the line at his mercy. The visitors did get on the scoreboard from a penalty
shortly after from full back James Clark.

Redruth responded in the best fashion with a second try following
forward pressure with Chris Fuca getting the score.

Barnes had a good spell as Redruth were again guilty of
some poor tackling, however Redruth had a third try on the board after 21
minutes as a quickly taken tap penalty by Owen Hambly saw the ball moved wide
with Fuca’s level pass setting up winger Lewis Vinnicombe.

Penberthy’s ribs were sorely tested as he got under
Barnes’ Kiwi No.8 Sam Harding to prevent a certain try. Sadly his effort was in
vain as from the scrum Harding moved the ball wide with winger Luke Sayer
squeezing in at the scoreboard corner, Clark’s conversion from wide out bringing
his side back to 21-10.

The final ten minutes of the half was all Redruth as they
ran in a further two tries. First it was Goodfellow showing some deft footwork
who sprinted in for the bonus point try. Then just before half-time Tom Notman
scored Redruth’s fifth try as the ball was moved along the line with the winger
crossing in the Piggy lane corner for a 35-10 score at the break.

Barnes made a couple of changes at half-time and began
the second half more purposefully culminating in the first of two second half
tries for Butler.

Redruth responded almost immediately with Goodfellow
again showing a good step to score his second try at the posts.

Craig Bonds on for Sam Parsons in the centre followed up
with try number seven latching on to kick from Notman on 63 minutes.

Barnes hadn’t given up and they scored a third try through
Butler from a quick tap penalty near the posts to give them hope of possibly
salvaging a try bonus point of their own.

It was as near as they would get, instead Redruth piled
on the misery with try number eight scored three minutes from time as No.8 Tom
Duncan was driven over for his seventh try of the season. Penberthy completed
the scoring with his final well-struck conversion.

Redruth 56 pts

Tries – Semmens, Fuca, Vinnicombe, Goodfellow (2),
Notman, Bonds, Duncan, Conversions – Penberthy (8)

Barnes 22 pts

Tries – Sayer, Butler (2), Conversions – Clark, Williams-Davies,
Penalty – Clark

Referee: Robert Warburton (RFU)

BY PHIL WESTREN CORNISH PIRATES’
MEDIA OFFICER

A week and half after winning 20-16 at Plymouth Albion in the RFU
Championship, it’s a return for the Cornish Pirates to the Brickfields on
Wednesday evening for a British Irish cup encounter.

The match kicks off at 7.45pm.

Graham Dawe’s side lost narrowly 29-25 away to Moseley in their
cup opener, whilst the Pirates beat Bristol Rugby 50-22 back at the Mennaye
Field.

As ever, Wednesday evening’s game is expected to be closely fought
affair, and one when both teams will likely give welcome game time to various
squad members, including for the Pirates young fly-half Aaron Penberthy, who
will make his debut for the club as he returns from injury.

Also, with Championship clubs able to play up to 10 players in
this season’s British & Irish Cup who are registered for league rugby with
clubs at Level 3 or below, two players from the Cornish All Blacks and one from
St. Austell have been named in the Cornish Pirates squad for this match.

From the Cornish All Blacks, Mike Rawlings who was an ‘Academy’
player at the Pirates a few seasons back, is selected at open-side flanker, and
another former ‘Pirate’ and back-rower, Josh Lord, is named among the
replacements.

St. Austell scrum-half Matt Shepherd is also on the bench and
flanker Kyle Marriott will captain the side against his former club.

Cornish Pirates: R. Cook, R.
McAtee, R. Westren, S. Hill, W. Davies, A. Penberthy, T. Kessell,B. Maidment,
M. Rawlings, K. Marriott (capt), M. Smith, M.Myerscough, C. Rimmer, T. Cowan-Dickie, R.
Storer.

Replacements: P. Andrew, D. Ward, R. Brits, I.
Nimmo, J. Lord, M. Shepherd, D. Doherty.

Referee: Philip
Davies (RFU)

RESULT

PLYMOUTH ALBION 0 – 38 CORNISH PIRATES