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A minute's silence was observed by the Taunton and Redruth teams prior to their match this past Saturday. They were joined by officials and all in attendance in remembrance of those who had tragically been affected in last Friday night's terrible accident on the M5 motorway.

Taunton produced another improved performance, but had to be content with two bonus points after a narrow 35-34 defeat in a highly entertaining encounter.

For the first time this season, Taunton had the luxury of some continuity by naming the same starting line up that defeated Clifton the previous week to build on recent performances. Redruth is never an easy place to get a result, and to come away with two bonus points was an achievement in itself, although clearly not the desired result everyone hoped for.

The match started with a high tempo and was a physical affair from the outset. Within two minutes Taunton hooker Jon Gatford had to leave the field for treatment to a cut above the eye as a result of a collision at the breakdown. Sonny Haines entered the action as a blood replacement having barely taken his place on the bench with Gatford returning at the ten-minute mark.

Redruth opened the scoring when the referee penalised the Taunton fringes for being offside. Aaron Penberthy stepped up and slotted the penalty to the delight of the vocal crowd to give the home side a 3-0 lead on 13 minutes.

Sam Prior proved once again that he is an effective carrying option for Taunton with the ball in hand and made good ground, which the Redruth defence fought hard to contain. His forward colleagues gave him the support and worked hard to secure good possession. Unfortunately his afternoon was cut short early with a reoccurrence of the injury that forced him from the field against Clifton a week earlier. Haines was again pressed into action from the bench, this time as a permanent replacement.

Possession was in Taunton’s hands, and with slick distribution from the lively Joe Bartlett the backline plugged away at the Redruth defence. Haile came from one wing to the other cutting a nice angle as he joined the line. The youngster almost added to his season tally but a desperate defence did well to barge him out of play over the line before he could ground the ball.

It was shaping to be an evenly matched affair and the game was end-to-end stuff that roused the sizable home support. Taunton defended their line and caused problems at the breakdown but when they came in at the side Redruth were awarded a penalty. Instead of adding the three points it was taken quickly with space wide on the left. Tom Popham and Christian Gervais did well to close the space down and the lack of clinical execution from Redruth saw the chance go begging.

Redruth did then manage to cross the line and extend their lead with a well-worked try. As the ball was spread wide a narrowly missed interception attempt by Haile opened the door for Chris Fuca to coast through and score. Penberthy converted to give the home side a 10-0 lead after 30 mins.

Taunton worked hard to respond and they continued to throw everything into the breakdown to secure possession. After a Redruth infringement in the middle of the park a Tony Yapp penalty pulled an easy three points back for the visitors on 33 minutes.

Sean Fox lead the way all afternoon with a captain’s performance, and when he came away from the contact area having turned the ball over he fed Dave Bates on the half way line. The second row carved his way into the opposition half and when hauled down short of the line he slipped the ball out to the supporting Fox who slid in to score in the legendary ‘Hell Fire’ corner. Tony Yapp added the extras with a well-struck conversion and it was level at 10-10 after 34 minutes.

With their tails up Taunton added another score minutes later when Jason Luff carved his way through the hosts defence with a powerful weaving run to go in under the posts. Yapp added the conversion and the entertaining first forty minutes ended 10-17 in favour of the visitors.

With the second half underway an early infringement for coming in at the side allowed Penberthy to add an easy penalty with Yapp responding with one of his of his own just a minute later.

Taunton then extended their lead further when a lovely cross-field kick from Bartlett was executed with pinpoint accuracy. The defence, focussed on the advancing Popham, left Dean Taylor-Menzies free to collect and go through unopposed wide on the right. Yapp was successful with the conversion to give Taunton a 13-27 lead after 46 minutes.

Redruth had dominated the scrum all afternoon, with their front five showing their experience, a massive scrum and great pick up resulted in a try. Tom Duncan picked up from the base and galloped his way down the blindside outstripping the napping Taunton defence to score wide out on the left. Penberthy coolly slotted the conversion to narrow the score to 20-27 after 49 minutes.

It remained ferocious at the breakdown from both sides, and certainly not a place for the feint hearted. For Taunton, Nick Burnett and Bates lead the way and Liam Wilkinson followed in making a nuisance of themselves for the home side to deal with. But there was little they could do when Fuca was driven over for his second after a well executed Redruth forward catch and drive. Penberthy missed the conversion but once again it was game on with the score at 25-27 after 57 minutes.

Going into the last ten minutes Redruth were awarded a penalty after a scrum offence and, unlike Clifton last week, the home side opted for the posts. Penberthy was successful with the boot and Redruth had a single point advantage.

With the ascendancy they piled on the pressure and a mix up under a high ball resulted in the experienced Jamie Semmens adding a try under the posts. Penberthy converted giving the home side a 35-27 lead and leaving Taunton with work to do as time ebbed away.

It was a tense final couple of minutes, with Taunton pushing hard for bonus points on offer and Redruth defending as if their lives depended on it. The reward came when Haines was driven over for Taunton’s fourth try of the afternoon and the bonus point, securing an additional losing bonus point in the process.

Yapp’s conversion was good with the last kick of the game, the final whistle bringing an end to the match. Both teams left the field to a deserved standing ovation from the crowd acknowledging their efforts with 35-34 the final score.

The progress made by Taunton over recent weeks was clear to see. Many sides would have settled for two bonus points away to Redruth but the players and supporters travelled home disappointed that they did not get the result that was within their grasp.