REDINGENSIANS Rams sealed their first National Two South victory over Taunton Titans with a 31-15 win at Old Bath Road.

Rams ran in five tries against the visitors to claim a bonus-point victory in a hard-fought battle between the division’s third and fourth-placed teams.

Rams, in third, may miss out on the play-offs this season as they trail Chinnor in second by 19 points with only four matches to go.

But Seb Reynolds’ men have made a big impression in the division and are likely to challenge for promotion next season.

This was their fifth win in six matches and their maiden success over Taunton, to the delight of the home faithful.

Head coach Reynolds beamed: “I thought it was a really good game of rugby, both teams took knocks and the collisions on the pitch were frightening at times.

“Both teams put a great effort in defensively and credit must go to our defence. We did a good job of shutting down a really dangerous Taunton side. Our attack also looked really good and I’m really happy with the momentum we created.”

Rams handed a debut to teenager Joe Booth at scrum half and their set piece was excellent driven by tight-head prop James Baker.

Taunton opened the scoring with a Gary Kingdom penalty, but Rams hit back quickly and grabbed their first try through Sam Guttridge following a series of pick up and drives.

Rams dominated the remainder of the first half but had to wait until moments before the break before extending their lead when Baker drove over the line. Jordan Souter kicked the conversion for a 12-3 lead.

Reynolds’ men went further in front after the restart thanks to a try from debutant Booth.

The hosts dominated a scrum deep in Taunton territory and Booth spotted a gap before darting down the blindside and over the line for a memorable score.

Rams continued to batter away at the Titans and the visitors’ defence was breached again when the ball was spun wide for wing Conor Corrigan to dart over for the bonus point.

The hosts then added their fifth of the afternoon courtesy of a penalty try after yet more rampaging play from their forwards.

Taunton, to their credit, finished strongly and scored two touchdowns of their own through Charlie Samways and Tom Hooper, but it was too little, too late as Rams avenged their 31-21 defeat at Titans earlier in the season.

Reynolds concluded: “Our set piece was outstanding and James Baker at tight head prop had a phenomenal game.

“Joe Booth made his debut today at scrum half, he’s only 18 years old and has only been playing school rugby in the last six months, but he’s been absolutely brilliant and congratulations to him on his first game.”
Rams are without a fixture this weekend and return to action on Saturday, April 7 with a trip to Bury St Edmunds.