Navy Rue Missed Opportunity in Game of Two Halves

Redruth edged a narrow 21-19 victory over the Navy U23s side at the Recreation Ground. The hosts dominated the first half, but a spirited Navy fightback fell short as missed opportunities cost them in an evenly contested match that offered valuable lessons for both teams.

It was a bit of a makeshift Navy U23s that took the field at the Recreation Ground in Redruth to play a team of young Cornishmen hungry to show their 1^st team coaches what they could do on the big stage.

It was therefore no surprise that Redruth spent much of the first half camped in Navy territory. They piled on the pressure from the off and on min 8 they finally got their reward. A string of penalties led to a line out on the Navy 5m line, and the resulting catch and drive led to the first try by Redruth via No8 Fin Wolstencroft. Fly half Dean Wills added the extras impressively, 10m in from the left touchline.

Navy continued to be the architects of their own downfall through a combination of handing errors and further penalties as they struggled to clear their lines. Eventually the pressure told on 15 minutes when Redruth second row, Kaiden Carne, crashed over from close range. Wills again adding the 2 to make it a deserved 14 - 0 to the hosts.

It was looking ominous for the Navy side, and their task certainly didn’t look like getting any easier when, on 22 mins, Navy wing Ben Callard was shown a yellow for a bone crunching tackle that, whilst pleasing the crown, irked the referee. Navy could well have then played within themselves but the one-man reduction (which turned out to be a substitution under a gentleman’s agreement between coaches), appeared to galvanize a Navy team that had been under the pump from kick off. 

Around the half hour mark some slick hands and speculative offloading eventually saw the Navy spend time in enemy territory and they were rewarded with a penalty that Flyhalf, George Edson was able to kick inside the defenders 22. The subsequent lineout led to a sublime grubber by veteran scrum half (yes – in the U23s) John (JT) Tyler that was collected by vice-captain, Ben Smith to dot under the posts. Edson added the conversion, and Navy had reduced the arrears by 7.

Navy capitalised on some newfound belief and, after a bulldozing break down the left by prop Jack Deveraux, and some effective support lines, JT was the final beneficiary, crossing the whitewash to the left of the posts. Unfortunately, the conversion was missed but a 2-point deficit felt like decent return for a Navy side that had been largely second best for the first half. Unfortunately, it was short lived as the Navy made a hash of the restart and on the stroke of half time they again conceded to a catch and drive from 5 out. This time it was Redruth hooker, Ollie Darby, adding his name to the score sheet with Wills adding the extras once more. Half time 21 - 12 to the men in red.  

If the partisan crowd thought they’d get more of the same in the second half, then they were to leave disappointed. A raft of changes by both sides seemed to benefit the Navy more than the hosts who, in a reverse of the first half, appeared to set up camp in the Redruth red zone. Some sustained pressure saw the referee reward the men in grey with a string of penalties and a yellow for Redruth’s Wolstencroft (again, converted to a substitution). Unfortunately, despite a string of lineouts in the attacking 22, the Navy continued to spurn their chances to close the difference. That was until, on 65 minutes, a slick line break by playmaker Edson set up an unobstructed run in for second row Robbie Hawkshaw. Edson added the 2 but, despite opportunities (mostly for the Navy), neither side were able to add any more points. So it was that Redruth hung on for a 21 - 19 victory.

Declan Johnson said, "It was a good game against a strong young Redruth side. Some well-worked tries kept us in it, but improving our set-piece detail, especially defensively in the maul, will help us impose ourselves more effectively. The team put in another strong defensive performance, and it’s great to see the lads fighting for each other on the field. We’re looking forward to an even tougher challenge against Cornwall President’s XV next week."

On balance the home side, and most of the crowd, will feel like the result was about right given the hosts first half dominance. But the Navy will move on feeling it was a game they could have won had they made the most of their second half chances. Either way, both coaches got to give their full squads a run out and both will benefit from what they saw with harder, and arguably more important, fixtures to come.

Navy U23s: J Arrowsmith, L Evans J Deveraux; R Hawkshaw, G Robins; F Walls, B Smith (CC), F Harvey; J Tyler, G Edson, J Cross, G Pooley, J Houghton, B Callard, F Elliott (CC). 

Replacements: ⁠B Chaston, H Utton-Smith, C Hancock, L Leeman, R Daughtery.

Words by Neil Howe

Images by Jarrad Hulm and Mike Freeman