On the basis of this performance, it is difficult to understand how Redruth arrived at Leicester Road on Saturday burdened with a playing record this season which had seen them struggling in the lower reaches of the league. In conditions that were little short of appalling, they produced a clinically efficient performance which comfortably despatched a Hornets side who had won three of their last four games. This was a game that Hinckley had expected to win and further build on the momentum they had developed in the last few weeks in their mission to escape the relegation dogfight that they have become embroiled in. In the end they were out-thought, outplayed, and badly beaten.

It wasn’t that Redruth were spectacular. There was no stand-out player in red but they were simply better as a collective unit than Hinckley. Their defence was outstanding to the point that it is difficult to remember any meaningful Hinckley line-break and when chances presented themselves, they were grasped with both hands. This was no abject surrender by the Leicester Road men – the pack achieved at least parity in the scrum and line-out, Riley Gilbert continued to prove that youth is no impediment to success, and the forwards never lost heart – but, as a unit, they simply made too many mistakes and did not take their chances. Crucially, on a day of high wind and driving rain, their kicking game was poor and presented too many opportunities for the Redruth back three to run from deep.

There was a brief period approaching half-time, after Callum Dacey had slotted his second penalty of the afternoon to bring Hornets within a score, when it seemed Hornets might get back in the fight but that optimism was squashed immediately after half-time when Redruth took advantage of poor Hinckley ball retention to drive over for their third try and extend their lead to 6-19. From that point on, the writing was on the wall for the Hornets. Jack Ramshaw did force his way over the line midway through the second half after Hinckley had secured a short-range penalty line-out but by that time Redruth had secured the bonus point and went on to run in two further tries to rub more salt in the Hinckley wounds.

DOR Chris Campbell was a disappointed man after the game while giving credit to a solid performance from the visitors. ‘On review, our lack of accuracy in the first half was terminal. We had enough chances to build up a significant lead but handling errors primarily and the penalty count between minutes 20-30 let us down. We got over the line once and couldn’t ground it, and got to within 5 metres 3 or 4 other times before giving the ball up’

‘I thought Redruth played very well. In contrast, they made very few handling errors throughout the game and their penalty count stayed low. They also took advantage of some very loose kicking from us in the second half to managed field position. It would be wrong to say they were anything but good value for their win.’

Hinckley’s situation is far from terminal and results elsewhere, with the three teams immediately above them all losing without a bonus point, mean that their position in the league remains unchanged but this result is undoubtedly a major blow for Hornets. Had they won with a bonus point they would have jumped to eighth in the division, leapfrogging their opponents. They now have a break before visiting Old Redcliffians in a fortnight in what is likely to be a very tough encounter. A win last Saturday would have made that visit seem far less daunting.
Nick Robinson