REDINGENSIANS Rams suffered a second consecutive National Two South loss in a barn-storming derby defeat 26-22 at home to Henley Hawks.

Yet there were positives to be taken for the Old Bath Road men.

Phil Hoy made a fine debut for Rams, scoring the second of the squad’s three tries and putting in some hard hits that left Hawks reeling backwards.

Taking a place in the second row, he makes a fine addition to Rams’ scrum which continues to intimidate all opponents.

And while Redingensians were ultimately defeated, the majority of the game was dominated by the Reading men, only for the contest to be bookended by powerful play from Hawks, who pipped the home side with points scored in the opening and closing minutes.

A quick start saw Rams concede the first try after a clearing kick was charged down and run under the posts by Hawks’ flanker George Lane, George Jackson converting.

This lead was soon dismissed by the home side when Jacob Atkins first landed a 40-metre penalty kick and then provided Sean McDermottroe with a smooth, try-scoring offload 10 minutes later.

Hoy’s converted effort made it 17-7, although a Jackson penalty cut the gap at the break.

However, throughout the final 40 minutes, this gap tightened as Henley took advantage of two yellow cards and less structured, frantic play on Rams’ side of the pitch.

A converted try and another Jackson penalty levelled matters, but a stunning try by Rams’ full-back Jak Rossiter – who chipped ahead and collected in a run that spanned the entire pitch – put the hosts back in front.

Rossiter had been ruthless in defence throughout the game but also found time to demonstrate his expertise in finding and exploiting opposition space.

Rams continued to battle resolutely and other impressive plays came from Chico U’Chong, who performed an excellent, high-pressure clearing kick from his own try line, and Ben Henderson, who displayed more qualities of a brick wall than that of outreached arms and shattering shoulders.

However, the last 20 minutes of the game was virtually spent entirely in the Redingensians half, and the pressure finally told as Jackson slotted home three kicks to seal the win.

Redingensians Rams travel to Redruth this Saturday (3pm).

  • IN the BB&O Championship, Berkshire Shire Hall defeated Aldermaston 11-9 at Sonning Lane to collect their first win of the season.