By Will Gupwell

Saturday's match marked the second game of the National League season for EURFC and the first home game, against a Redruth team in fine form after a comprehensive victory last week. With the news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the game was preceded by an impeccably observed moment of silence.

The game began with Exeter on the front foot, but Redruth quickly gained possession and moved up the pitch earning a penalty, converted by Fraser Honey, to open up an early lead.

Not long after though, Exeter replied brilliantly, with backrow Lucas Dorrell making a searing break through the defensive line, to dive over under the posts.

After returning the restart, Redruth quickly won a penalty and kicked for the corner. From this pressure, they thought they had scored, before the officials spotted a knock-on at the base of the scrum.

Redruth were building the pressure though and their breakthrough eventually came, with Jack King pouncing. However, an excellent charge down from Tom Cairns on the conversion attempt denied the extra two points.

Exeter replied quickly again, applying pressure in the Redruth 22. Whilst they weren't quite able to go over from a series of pick and go's, moments later, Josh Barton read the play excellently, intercepting a loose pass from Redruth and going straight under the sticks, with Ben Hammersley converting to extend the lead.

The game was ebbing and flowing now, and after a turnover in possession in Exeter’s own 22, full-back Max Bliss put in an excellent 50-22 kick that forced Redruth into a lineout on their own 5 metre line.

Redruth's dominance at scrum time however, allowed them to march back down the pitch, resulting in a try from William Trewin, after he gathered his own chip and chase to score under the posts.

Once again, Exeter responded quickly with another try after a beautiful snipe from scrum-half Cairns, with the ball recycled quickly, allowing captain Ollie Leatherbarrow to go over in the corner. Ben Hammersley converted again to take his side back into a 6-point lead.

The pace of the game didn’t let up, with the tries continuing to come. Redruth quickly responded themselves, with another score, after Kyle Bradley spotted the space round the side of the ruck and darted through the gap, to put his side ahead at half-time.

The half started strongly for the home side, with Max Bliss getting an early score, finishing off some lovely attacking phase play, for his second try in as many weeks. The momentum carried on quickly and, after a missed opportunity after another Bliss break, Exeter went over again with captain Leatherbarrow scoring his second. Barton added the extras to open up a commanding lead for his side.

It looked like it would continue raining tries, as Redruth looked to come back into the game. Despite their pressure though, Exeter did brilliantly to hold up an almost certain try, with some impeccable defensive work from Dorrell. Four minutes later, Redruth set up another driving maul, only for the Exeter players to hold it up again, much to the frustration of the visiting support.

Exeter would lose captain Ollie Leatherbarrow to the sin-bin a couple of minutes later, after a deliberate block on his opposite number. And it wouldn't take Redruth long to make the most of the one-man advantage as, after a series of pick and go's, they spread it wide to go over and reduce the gap.

Shortly after Leatherbarrow returned from the bin, wing Kofi Barton-Byfield returned to competitive action in style, doing what he does best and flying over in the corner, before Barton added two more points from the touchline, to take the match away from the visitors.

Disaster struck a short while later for Exeter, with a melee after a scrum seeing Harvey Dunn sent off with just a few minutes remaining.

Following the red card, play became a bit loose, with players tiring as possession changed hands frequently. But it didn’t stop the big hits flying in from both sides. Exeter eventually saw out the rest of the game, to secure a big win that will hopefully build further momentum, heading into next week's grudge match with Loughborough.