The Reds suffered a rare five tries to two home defeat as high flying Dorking showed their class with four sizzling second half tries to keep them hard on the heels of the league leaders Henley.

Steve Larkins, Redruth’s Head Coach was gracious in defeat. “We were disappointing in a few areas but we were beaten by a better side today. They are the best side we’ve played this season, well-balanced and they finished well. They stretched our defence and created gaps. We mauled and scrummaged well and looked good when we moved the ball wide but our ball retention let us down. We were pretty poor in the contact area today. The Matt Bowden try showed what we are trying to do. This week in training we will get back to it and concentrate on the things we know we need to put right.”

Dorking normally wear red and white hooped shirts which would have led to a colour clash. As the away side they should have had a change strip but they had failed to bring one. They were offered the Redruth green away strip which they refused so in a bizarre twist they played with their shirts inside out and the numbers indistinctly written on in felt tip pen leaving the bemused crowd of nearly 900 puzzling over who was who!

The visitors started briskly and opened the scoring after three minutes when live wire scrum-half Will Crow spotted a gap in The Reds’ defence to dart under the posts giving Matt Noble a simple conversion.

With their forwards and backs combining well the visitors had the better of the first fifteen minutes but as the Redruth defence held firm the home side grew in confidence with the pack starting to dominate. A break by fly-half Bertie Hopkin was supported well by skipper Chris Fuca and set up good field position for The Reds. Turning down a kickable penalty opportunity Redruth opted to kick to the corner and were rewarded with a Ben Priddey try, converted by Hopkin to level the scores.

The home side started to take control of events and continued to press forward again opting to kick to the corner rather than shoot at goal but this time the well organised Dorking defence held firm. When Dorking were awarded a penalty they opted to kick for goal with Noble giving them a three point lead at the break.

In the second period the visitors showed why they have won their previous eleven games as they upped the pace with some clever running angles. Crow, who cleverly marshalled his troops all afternoon, sold two outrageous dummies in his forty metre dash for the line, Noble adding the extras.

Fly-half Cameron Pimlow was the next to open up The Reds’ defence, touching down for Noble to add the extras. The home side’s cause was not helped when Greg Goodfellow was sent to the sin bin in the sixtieth minute. Reduced to fourteen men the Redruth defence was beaten again with Noble converting his own try.

The Reds, struggling to establish continuity, managed to go through the phases before moving the ball wide for a Matt Bowden consolation try but fittingly it was Dorking who had the last word with a Joseph Mogaji try which Noble converted to complete a 100% record from his six shots at goal.

Referee Christoph Ridley signalled the end of proceedings to round off a perfect afternoon for the fifty or so travelling Dorking supporters who received a warm welcome in the Clubhouse before and after the game and who contributed well to the atmosphere.

Next week The Reds face another tricky away day as they travel to Thame in Oxfordshire to meet fifth placed Chinnor.

Redruth

Tries:Priddey 18, Bowden 69

Conversion: Hopkin 18

Dorking

Tries:Crow 3, 47; Pimlow 58; Noble 67; Mogaji 77.

Conversions: Noble 3, 47, 58, 67, 77.

Penalty:Noble 35

HT: 07 - 10

Referee: Christoph Ridley (RFU)

Attendance: 875

Yellow Cards: Goodfellow (Redruth) [Technical]

Redruth: B. Rule (J. Kessell 64), R. McAtee, N. Webber (R. Wedlake 64), S. Parsons, M. Bowden, J. Hopkin, G. Goodfellow (R. Wedlake 20) (G. Goodfellow36), T. Phillips, B. Priddey, C. Williams (J. Drew 60), D. Cook, L. Collins (R. Brown 60), C. Fuca (Capt.), J. Stevens (C. Davey 50), K. Marriot.

Dorking: M. Noble, M. Duxbury (G. Johnston 64), R. Jeffery, F. Macdonald, J. Mogaji, C. Pimlow (M. Duxbury 78), W. Crow, B. Knight (S. Olayanju 51), J. Catton (H. George 64), R. Nunn (B. Knight 68), A. Roux (Capt.) (M. Higgins 74), M. Higgins (E. Awin 51), O. Edwards, J. Vermont (C. Stevenson 60), T. Lee.