With six wins from their seven opening games this season the Redruth coaching staff can feel pretty pleased with their team’s performance that sees the Reds riding high in the National League 2 South table currently sitting in second place behind leaders Redingensians.
With the autumnal weather setting in Forwards Coach Gareth Tedstone knows games will take on a greater emphasis up front. He said. “I was pleased with our performance today, the elements played a big factor in how we played.
“I was pleased with our lineout, we were under huge pressure from Canterbury who had two giant locks allied with the wind we had to limit our options. We lost a couple of throws early on but we corrected that and I felt that towards the end of the game we looked more comfortable.
“In the scrums we went well against their big pack, a lot of sides look to target our scrum and raise their game. Our defence was again superb we defended the fringes well and did well to keep them out especially in the first half.
Tedstone felt his side always had a chance going in at half-time just 10-0 down. “I felt we should have been closer on the board at half-time but having restricted them to just the two unconverted tries you always feel you have a chance especially playing down the slope.
“We had a good chat, didn’t panic and trusted our systems going into the second half, we had to be patient but the scores came our way.
“We made the right call going for scrums when we had penalties near touch as it allowed us to work our way nearer the posts, scoring our tries near the posts was key and allowed Aaron Simmonds to kick both conversions which won us the game.
Tedstone acknowledged there was an element of good fortune with the Reds’ first try. “It’s not something we practise on a Thursday night prior to a game, but for once the ball broke in our favour. It was a speculative kick from Aaron Simmonds that ricocheted into the arms of centre Jack Simmons and he was clear, all credit to him for having the presence of mind to capitalise on the chance.
“That score came at a vital time and gave us the confidence needed to go on and win the game.
Tedstone was pleased with performance of prop Tom Concu who appears to be setting in well. “Tom’s going well, obviously it’s a week-by-week situation and if they have injuries at the Pirates he will be heading back to the Mennaye, for now he’s giving us some good options as is Jack Hodge, he came on today and did another fine job culminating in his try following some great forward play.
Thoughts now turn to the next three games before the Reds get a week off in November. “Two away games at London Irish and Old Albanian with a home game sandwiched in against Henley Hawks. It will be a challenging set of games but I think by then we will have a clearer picture of how the league is shaping up. The old adage of one game at a time so the focus is very much on the Wild Geese this Saturday, it’s a ground were we have struggled in the past so we will need to be on the top of our game to get a result.”