MIKE Tewkesbury believes the determination of his Redingensians Rams squad will help them turn things round following Saturday’s 28-14 National Two South defeat to Redruth at Old Bath Road, writes Richard Ashton.

It was a fifth loss in seven games for Rams, who remain eighth in the table, but head coach Tewkesbury told the Chronicle: “To be fair to our guys, what they do do is stick at it.

“Whatever type of game we’re in and however we might struggle at times, I think we have a great attitude in terms of not giving up.

“There’s that determination to keep going to the end and I think that will stand us in good stead.”

The hosts made a disastrous start as Jak Rossiter was sin-binned inside the opening five minutes, and two quick tries from Redruth wings Lewis Vinnicombe and Alex Ducker – the latter’s a superb solo effort covering more than half the field – put the Cornishmen 12-0 to the good early on.

Rams had been unable to train the previous two Thursdays due to the state of the pitches at Old Bath Road, but Tewkesbury was frustrated by the start, which followed a similar beginning to the Henley Hawks defeat a week earlier.

He reflected: “We got off to a very, very slow start and early on they romped into a lead.

“I don’t think you can give a side a 12-point lead at this level.

“You just can’t do that and hope to come back.

“We made too many elementary errors at the start and that puts pressure on ourselves.

“It wasn’t so much what they created as what we created for ourselves.”

He continued: “I don’t know if the fellas aren’t initially focussed enough, it’s very difficult to say (why we’ve started slowly) and it’s the reverse of what we’ve been doing before this season where we’ve started really strongly.

“At the end of the day we’ve got to be focussed as soon as we get on the pitch and not make mistakes.

“Simplicity is genius and we need to keep things simple.”

Wing Connor Corrigan scored a pearler of his own to match Ducker’s as Rams hit back, Spike Chandler adding a difficult touch-line conversion to cut the gap to 12-7.

However, an overthrown line-out gifted a try to Redruth’s Shaun Buzza, and Ducker then showed his predatory instincts to collect his side’s bonus point as his side surged 22-7 in front.

Rams had a kickable opportunity to cut the gap before the break, but after electing to go to the corner, they could not break through a solid visitors’ defence.

Tewkesbury reflected: “There are key moments in the game and we maybe didn’t make the right decisions.

“You’ve got to be so precise in your skill set and at the set piece.

“We’ve got to reduce the error count and take our chances.”

Rams were given a major fillip when Redruth's Pale Nonu was sent off for a wild head-high challenge on Chandler, but after the hosts’ scrum half Miles Lloyd was sin-binned shortly after, Brett Roger Rule’s penalty made it 25-7.

Redingensians dominated the second half against the 14 men, but too often kicked the ball away when it appeared better to run the ball through the hands.

However, Tewkesbury said: “There was nothing wrong with the planned kicking game, but you’ve got to be accurate.

“You don’t want to be kicking the ball down the throat of their most dangerous players.”

Rams did give themselves a lifeline on 67 minutes when Lloyd’s perfect off-load found the on-rushing full back Sam Guttridge, and his well-timed pass found Corrigan to go over for a second score.

Guttridge converted to cut the gap to 25-14, but despite Rams continuing to pressure the Redruth line, more indiscipline meant the only remaining score of the game was a Roger Rule penalty.

Rams face a difficult trip to nearby Chinnor on Saturday, the third-placed Oxfordshire side having won at Old Bath Road earlier in the season.

But Tewkesbury remains confident, stating: “They’re up near the top but they haven’t had a great run.”