On beautiful warm day at the Recreation Ground with the feel of summer in the air the Reds did well to overcome a very good Wiveliscombe side. The visitors showed why they have won the league demonstrating their hard running and off-loading play that has taken them to the title. The Reds were not to be denied though and refused to be over powered by their much more experienced opponents. The Reds fielded a side where Adam Hall was the old man of the team at the grand old age of 24.

Redruth got proceeding underway playing towards Hellfire Corner and were almost immediately on the scoreboard. Wiveliscombe were putting some phases together around hallway when Luca Brano read the move, intercepted and sprinted in under the posts for a try converted by Sam Woolfe. Wivey now showed their skills, putting together a multi-phase move from a scrum on the Reds 10 metre. Offloading for fun they eventually broke the stubborn Reds defence with Rottenbury squeezing over in the scoreboard corner for an unconverted try. Redruth quickly extended their lead, fielding a clearance kick in their own half the Reds ran the ball back and Hall made good ground up to the 22. Some quick plays later Oli Wells cut through the now fragmented defence to go over near the posts for a converted try, 14-5 to the Reds on 12 minutes. The visitors had the better of the next 15 minutes or so with play mainly taking place in the Redruth half. The Reds defence finally cracked when scrum half Baker took a quick tapped penalty getting to within 10 metres of the Redruth line. A few phases later and they had their second try through Ellis converted well by Quick from wide out to get back to a within 2 points. With defences holding firm it seemed that the half would end without any further scoring but there was to be a big finish to the half. From a line out in the Wivey half the Reds won scruffy ball and a move to the right seemed to have broken down. Bailey Williams had other ideas, stormed forward, off-loaded deftly and Luke Young was over near the posts but the conversion was scuffed wide.
Halftime: Redruth 19 – 12 Wiveliscombe

Early in the second period Marley Johns extended the Reds lead with a penalty. Wivey soon hit back and after some phases in the Reds 22 a lovely delayed pass allowed Ruell to score a converted try. The Reds now almost scored an excellent try when a move started deep in their own territory ended with Williams just pushed into touch by the corner flag. Soon after Johns added his second penalty to extend the lead to 6 points on 53 minutes. The lead was soon back to 1 point when Wivey capitalised on a very good 50:22 kick. Their lineout maul made good ground and after a few charges powerful No.8 Ellis was over for his 2nd try. The Reds came straight back and from a lineout in the 22 they moved the ball to the right, Rhys Bowery found a hole and showing good pace went over for an unconverted try. After a period of play in the midfield Wivey went ahead for the first time. A big scrum in the Reds 22 had the home side on the back foot and livewire scrum half Baker scampered over untouched for a converted try. The visitors were 1 point up on 67 mins could the Reds come back? Wivey almost made the game safe when they broke out of their own half and only the combination of a desperate scramble defence and a bad pass prevented a score. A high tackle penalty allowed the Reds to get well into the Wivey half and a after a series of phases Luke Young got to within 5 metres and the Reds won a penalty. They opted to tap, Williams almost made it and Kaiden Carne did the rest for a try converted by Woolfe. Redruth easily saw out the last couple of minutes to seal the victory.

The win leaves the Reds in 5th place but if Torquay and St. Ives win their games in hand they could drop to 7th place. Either way it’s been a very satisfying season for the 2nd team that has seen a number of young players step up to the first team and others come into adult rugby for the first time and earning their spurs.

Roll on September 2026 when we do it all again.

Redruth
Tries: Brano, Wells, Young, Bowery, Carne.
Conv: Wolfe (3)
Pen: Johns (2).

Wiveliscombe
Tries: Rottenbury, Ellis (2), Ruell, Baker,
Conv: Quick (3).

Referee: Steve Bartlett.