A result too close to call, should have been the majority prediction for this encounter. In the midst of UK election opinion polls, the hard statistics prove the case. In the last 4 games, 3 narrow low score victories to CRUFC and 1 draw. (18-19, 21-18, 13-13, 15-10). Followers of recent form alone had the game won by a margin in excess of 30 points. Redruth winning only 2 of their 13 away games this season, recently leaking 5 tries at Blackheath.

Cambridge with tough conclusive wins way at Newbury and Cinderford should relish the chance to put on an exhibition of fluent rugby in near perfect conditions. The outcome was a hard fought, unyielding contest. On the day the visitors and a fickle south easterly wind disrupted Cambridge enough to have to fight for another narrow win. In defence the "Reds" have enough wit and pace to contain our pigeon catchers, although two of them did sweep in for the crucial tries. On their own account our visitors, once again, set out to irritate and disrupt our forwards, effective in as much as the penalty count ended more or less even. But Redruth were awarded and won 15 scrums (many deservedly driving forward on a 50/50 ball) to our 6 of which 3 became free kicks against, bizarrely front row infringements. Squandered possession was equally evident in the line out count, 2 to 1 in Redruth's favour and in particular only 1 line out for Cambridge in the second half. Overall a difficult match to win for us, a couple of plusses and a big minus that will be addressed in a paragraph later.

Redruth opened the scoring after 15 minutes, a lateral run in by right wing Lewis Vinnicombe. Faced with 3 Cambridge defenders his pace took him outside all to score easily in the corner. Cambridge had so far squandered possession with a sprinkling of misdirected passes. That we were uncharacteristically slow in thought and tired in action became the pattern of the half.  Redruth failed to take advantage in play but maximum advantage in walking the touchline and coaching expeditions on to the pitch. That the referee and his team often fail to support the 4th official in technical side protocols, has to be an issue to be resolved before next season. Redruth wound us up and that has to be viewed as a success in itself.

I will try and salvage something from a forgettable half. A tired Cambridge team struggling to recapture rhythm in open play. Toby Berridge and Tom Wheatcroft ran strongly and the line outs worked with clinical precision. In the early minutes we came close with a succession of penalties on the Redruth line only to dilly and dally, no decisive options called or executed. That Redruth only crossed the line once suggests that our defence held firm. Also Redruth kicked intelligently using the wind to push us back into the car park corner again and again. Cambridge had to work for every metre and against a sharper and quicker opponent that was taking its toll.

Half Time Cambridge 0 Redruth 7

Relief in the sense that we were only one try down, the sun no longer in our face and a touch of wind assist to look forward to in the second half. Add a cryptic Crooks assessment to the mix and the optimist in me said better things were still to come. They did. Much more purpose, an early struck penalty by Tom Wheatcroft followed by a polished try 3 minutes later. Billie Robinson broke from deep, stayed on his feet, possession held and recycled left with little room to spare. Toby Berridge swivelled away from his tackler, broke clear, stepped inside and from  the tackle popped the ball to Adam Barnard inside him to score. Adam was on as a half time replacement and is at long last back in action following some tough times with injury. An important role model for another of our backs involved in an incident later on. Cambridge were at least ahead for the first time in 45 minutes of play.

Redruth hit back and could have, should have scored from clean breaks midfield. They drew level with a penalty enough of a kick for their opponents to want to gain the initiative once again. The balance of the game swung back home. The second and final try came from two telling, defence splitting runs by Robbie Hurrell, out in the backs and eager to deliver. In between Billie Robinson kept the momentum going and deservedly Tom Wheatcroft went over in the tight right hand corner to score, adding 5 points to his match 10 point tally. That was to be it, for the final quarter only confirmed that both sides were running on empty, not surprising for the 29th match of a long season.

There was an incident immediately after the try was scored - a deliberate strike to the chin, missed by both the referee and touch judge but seen by everyone else with 50 metres. That this nearly resulted in a penalty against Cambridge requires close scrutiny by all concerned. Such are the benefits of DVD referral before committing myself to print.

Back to memory. Handre had managed a solo effort apparently touching down his own kick ahead only to be ruled out of play. Then Tom Wheatcroft was caught awkwardly in a tackle, the sound of a clear leg break audible to those around him. To quote from an e-mail received this morning from our roving photographer Chris Fell.

I don't know if you will have been told that the Redruth 20 (Wayne Davey), who stopped the game when Wheato was injured, is a paramedic when he's not playing rugby. Also, according to Carl, he shouted at the ref to stop the game when Redruth were almost through! Might be worth a look on the video.

As it is there is no record as the DVD ends earlier. However it was evident that not only was there a rare and serious injury but that Redruth acted like real gents in the reaction and genuine concern. Not the best way to end a match and hopefully a broken fibula will repair well and bring Wheato back in action well in time for next season.

Tom and Adam now share a similar fate, a serious end of season injury. Adam has proved that sticking on in there regardless of setbacks is worth it. Character forming, an inherent risk in contact sports and the fear of mum's wives and partners. Again added drama as first the stretcher then the ambulance added events to an eventful and successful Colour Saturday.

Man of the Match the tireless runner, Andy Brown, and for me Wheato, Toby and Robbie contributed significantly to our 4th consecutive win

Final Score Cambridge 15 Redruth 10

Elsewhere Blackheath, the setting for the start of today's demanding London Marathon, beat Stourbridge our last opponents on May Day. Fingers crossed that we do not repeat the "M'aidez" call. At least the rain has arrived, as I write, to the relief of gardeners and groundsmen alike.

Mal Schofield

PS just a word of deserved praise for the team of 3. Not an easy game to administer but the DVD with the valuable link into your conversations confirms an involvement and authority not so apparent at distance. A gentle firmness avoided the risk of yellow card fever and for that we are indeed very grateful.