A terrific match, played at an intense pace throughout in difficult conditions. On a sticky surface with a stiff cross-field wind, both sides produced an absorbing contest right through to the final whistle, but in front of their usual enthusiastic and partisan support, it was Redruth who deservedly ran out winners, mainly thanks to a three try burst in eight minutes shortly after the interval.
On 48 minutes the hosts, who'd been gathering momentum during the second quarter, went through numerous phases to set a ruck five metres out allowing second-row Luke Collins to pop over and score. Then, turnover ball (something that Blackheath were guilty of far too often) in the Club half of the field led to a sharp breakaway down the right flank which sent wing Lewis Vinnicombe in for a score and then, arguably, the best try of the match as neat handling sliced open a befuddled Blackheath midfield for outside-centre Craig Bonds to cross under the uprights.
With Matt Leek and Matt Vaughan out injured, and Dave Allen suffering from food poisoning, Blackheath were forced to make five changes (two positional) from the side that had performed so well against Tynedale the previous week, but Tom Lawy performed admirably in the back-row, and Ally Vanner, passed fit only shortly before kick-off, was able to take his usual place at lock. Will Matthews was held up over the goal-line on twelve minutes as the Club pack's set-piece dominated the early moments, but the next set-scrum saw the ball moved open and although the pass to Mark Odejobi wasn't the best, the big winger was able to gather the ball and race to the corner to put the visitors in front. However, and despite being down to 14-men with Vinnicombe in the sin-bin, Redruth responded with Mark Bright leading the charge, and in the 24th minute it was the Reds' number-eight himself who levelled the score as he romped over following a line-out. Back to full strength the Cornishmen should have taken the lead, but a wasted overlap, and a knock-on under the uprights, denied them and those moves aside, the Blackheath defence was resilient enough to keep the score at 5 points apiece going in to half-time.
The dam-burst after the break, though, saw the hosts rattle up a 19-point advantage and seemingly put the game out of sight, but a moment of ingenuity from Tom White, making his first start in a league match, allowed Blackheath to respond quickly and at least give the visitors a ray of hope. Good work from Sam Smith put White in a promising position and the garryowen off the outside of the fly-half's boot bobbled about in the in-goal area for Vanner to ground the ball. However, as the game moved into the final ten minutes a long phase of Blackheath possession ended with another turnover and once again Redruth countered with ruthless efficiency. Tired bodies, drained by the heavy surface on which both sides had struggled at times to hold their footing, couldn’t get across to make the tackles and hooker Owen Hambly crossed for the Reds' final score.
There was still time for Jonnie Williams, returning to the side as a replacement, to score a consolation effort with a strong run from deep, and in the centre Steve Hamilton, whose confidence grows with every game, showed another promising performance. But Redruth it was who celebrated as, after stuttering of late, this maximum points result keeps them firmly at the top of National League Two.
Scorers:
Redruth Tries: Bright
Collins
Vinnicombe
Bonds
Hambly
Conv: Rule 2
Blackheath Tries: Odejobi
Vanner
Williams
Conv: White