Redruth 36 Taunton Titans 31

In perfect conditions, two unbeaten sides met in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash at Redruth, with the hosts eventually edging out the Titans 36-31.

The Titans, playing up the slope in the first half, started brightly and quickly established territory inside the Redruth half. Taunton attacked with intent but found themselves up against a strong and well-organised Redruth defence.

The deadlock was eventually broken after 19 minutes when the Titans fell victim to the infamous Hellfire Corner. Redruth took advantage of the opportunity to score a converted try and move into a 7-0 lead.

Taunton responded almost immediately.

Just three minutes later, a high ball into the Redruth half created an opportunity for Scott Gibson, who made a decisive break and was stopped just short of the line. Gibson managed to offload as he was tackled, allowing debutant Ollie Aboud to gather and cross for his first try in a Titans shirt. The conversion levelled the scores at 7-7.

The Titans continued to apply pressure and, on 27 minutes, took the lead. A determined forward drive created the opening for Troy Jackson to cross the line, putting Taunton ahead 14-7.

Redruth responded with a wide passing move three minutes later, finding winger Clifford, who crossed for a try to reduce the deficit to 14-12.

The Redruth winger was proving a constant threat and soon struck again. Another wide pass found Clifford, who completed his hat-trick to put the hosts back in front at 17-14. The try went unconverted, leaving the Titans just three points behind at half-time.

Redruth were first on the scoreboard after the restart, being awarded a penalty try to extend their advantage to 24-14.

The Titans refused to let the game get away from them. Tom Putt calmly converted a penalty to reduce the deficit to 24-17, before Taunton produced one of the moments of the afternoon.

The Titans stole a scrum on halfway and Putt emerged with the ball. The fly-half spotted the opportunity and sprinted clear, racing underneath the posts to score. He then converted his own try, bringing the scores level at 24-24.

With the game finely balanced, the final stages were always likely to be decisive.

With just seven minutes of normal time remaining, the Titans were reduced to 14 men after a yellow card decision from the linesman.

The timing proved crucial. From the resulting scrum, Redruth built pressure and eventually crossed from a maul to regain the lead at 29-24.

Then, with the clock approaching 40 minutes, Redruth launched another high kick. The Titans misread the bounce, allowing the ball to fall straight into the hands of the Redruth attack, who capitalised to extend their advantage to 36-24.

Despite the setback, Taunton refused to give up.

Eight minutes of added time gave the Titans one final opportunity to mount a comeback, and they produced the try of the day.

After a superb sequence of handling through the Redruth defence, Scott Gibson found himself with space and crossed for a brilliantly worked try. Putt added the conversion to make it 36-31, setting up a tense finale.

With the clock now showing 48 minutes, the Titans were awarded a penalty and Putt kicked for the corner, knowing that a converted try could still snatch victory.

The lineout, however, was overthrown, bringing a frustrating end to Taunton's comeback attempt.

The final whistle soon followed, with Redruth securing a narrow 36-31 victory in an absorbing contest between two sides who had entered the afternoon unbeaten.

Despite the defeat, there was plenty of character on display from the Titans, who twice fought their way back into the contest and continued battling until the very end.

The Titans will now look to return to winning ways when Lymm visit Summerfield Stadium on Saturday 10 October, with kick-off at 3pm.

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Redruth 36
Taunton Titans 31

Next up: Taunton Titans v Lymm
Saturday 10 October | 3:00pm
Summerfield Stadium

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