Ross Tucknott: Cornwall, Sport & All Sorts

The remainder of Redruth’s season is full of tricky ties against mid-table opponents until the finale against Esher in May, starting today with a team only a point behind and with a game in hand. Whilst other teams have been loudly chasing titles or struggling against financial ruin, Stourbridge have been quietly going about their business. After a rocky opening spell against some of the league heavyweights which saw them lose four of their opening five fixtures, Stourbridge steadied the ship with a single-point away win at Nuneaton and drove their way up the league with six wins in eight games. That run included a tense two-point victory over the Reds in a see-saw match which left fans on both sides with little left of their fingernails.

The Christmas break came in the aftermath of a home loss to Newbury, with a 3-6 scoreline stereotypical of the Blues’ season, and worse was to follow in the New Year. Stourbridge were unable to replicate their previous season’s last-gasp home victory over Launceston, and then trips to Esher and Tynedale saw them leak 160 points. Blaydon and Wharfedale compounded their misery, but the last two weeks have seen Stourbridge thump Manchester and then crucially beat Cinderford to start putting some more vital points between themselves and the relegation zone.

One thing that leaps out from comparing both teams’ scoring trends is just how confusing statistics can be! Stourbridge score more tries in the first half, whilst the Reds have a habit of leaving it until after the break; yet Stourbridge score more than an average number of tries in the last ten minutes whilst Redruth score a much higher number than average in the first ten minutes! With less than half the average number of penalty goals to their credit though, along with a 52% team kicking rate, Stourbridge have been relying chiefly on tries to keep the scoreboard turning over, despite the return of Ali Bressington from Cinderford in January.

That leads to the unusual occurrence of a player being in the opposition top scorers table two programmes in a row, with Bressington having taken over kicking duties from Jonathan Higgins (Worcester, Newburt, Coventry, Bees). Second row captain Ben Hughes (Cheltenham, Bees) leads the team by example with a squad-high eleven tries, whilst England Counties scrum half Tom Richardson (Worcester, Bees, Nottingham) has crossed the line nine times himself. Ben Gerry (Leicester, Bristol, Dudley, Bees) also made the cut for the Counties team.