Thirty eight years after the coming of the league system changed the face of rugby, there is still something special about the game against Camborne on Boxing Day. There are other local derbies. Teams from Stithians and St Day used to face off on Boxing Day Morning. '40 minutes each way and 20 minutes of injury time' was one veteran's description of those matches, No league points at stake this Friday but there is a trophy shaped like a milk churn and some bragging rights.

The very first Boxing Day match took place at Rosewarne in 1877 when Redruth won by two touch downs to nil. However, the myth that this began what became the longest continuous fixture in rugby was exploded by the publication of 'Hellfire Awaits-150 Years of Redruth RFC'. Research showed that after that first game the two clubs, although playing each other up to four times a year, only played two Boxing Day fixtures between 1877 and 1900. In fact, the continuous run of these fixtures goes back to 1928, a game played following another two year row between the two clubs.

Boxing Day clashes with Camborne have seen their fair share of confrontation over the years and it was not unusual for the crowd join in. Those early days often saw supporters hurling stones at each other, opposition wingers being tripped up as they ran for the line and abuse hurled from the crowd. Often these events led to both clubs refusing to play each other, sometimes for a couple of seasons at a time and they were only persuaded to resume fixtures when it was realised how much gate money was being lost.

Things have calmed down a bit since then but only a bit. The game in 2003 saw a mass brawl break out after what was seen as a particularly enthusiastic tackle on a Redruth player. Order was restored, no cards issued and the game carried on. Subsequently a Camborne supporter was banned for a month by his club after offering the referee a pair of spectacles.

Fans of statistics may wish to know that the fixture has been played 111 times. Redruth have won 74 games, Camborne 26 and 11 matches have been drawn, all of those since 1945. The game in 1998 was called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

Perhaps the best attitude to this encounter was summed up by the great Redruth forward Billy Phillips. 'We wish each other the compliments of the season, and then get stuck in.'