REDRUTH had to make do with a losing bonus point on Saturday as their trip to Worthing ended in a 12-10 defeat.

All of the home side’s points came from the boot of Mathew McLean as the full-back slotted four penalties between the uprights during the National League Two South mid-table clash.

It was a strange afternoon in terms of scoring as the Reds grabbed two tries, but missed conversions on both proved crucial come full time.

Their second one came in the last minute via skipper Chris Fuca, but Dan Rutter was unable to add the extra couple of points which would have brought a draw.

Steve Larkins’ men were quickly under pressure from the kick-off as the Raiders delved deep into their territory.

This energetic opening set up the first penalty kick of the day with two minutes gone and from an easy position McLean made no mistake from the tee.

Moments later the Reds had a chance themselves to kick at the posts, but opted to go for touch and then try to drive over the line.

However, Worthing’s forwards held firm in defence and kept Redruth at bay.

Handling errors made sure the pace of the half was slow as the score remained 3-0 until the 36th minute when McLean kicked his second penalty of the match.

Murray Westren had been given the chance to level matters two minutes earlier, but the away full-back sent a penalty from 40m out wide of the posts.

McLean then made it 9-0 with six minutes elapsed in the second half after Worthing were awarded a penalty under the posts.

In the 51st minute Redruth went down to 14 men as tighthead prop Craig Williams was shown a yellow card.

But despite having a temporary numerical disadvantage in terms of players, the Reds grabbed their first try during the ten minutes.

Ben Priddey was the man who touched the ball down in the 58th minute after the flanker finished off a brilliant driving maul move from a line-out 5m out.

With the conversion attempt near the left touchline, it proved too difficult for Rutter to kick the extra points.

Although the Reds looked to be getting in their groove at last, they could not find another score before McLean extended the Raiders’ lead back to seven points with his fourth penalty of the day.

There were three minutes left on the clock after this and Redruth pressed again desperate for the try they needed to close the gap.

This did come with a minute remaining through another good drive from the forwards as Fuca went in.

Sadly Rutter missed the conversion again and despite trying to formulate another attack from the restart, Worthing did enough to hang on to the win.

REDRUTH: 15 Westren (Rutter, 40), 14 Kessell (Drew, 54), 13 Webber, 12 Parsons, 11 Wedlake, 10 McAtee (Bonds, 54), 9 Goodfellow; 1 Phillips (Tompsett, 71), 2 Brown, 3 Williams, 4 Cook, 5 Prisk (Simmons, 13), 6 Fuca (c), 7 Priddey, 8 Marriot.

TRIES: Priddey (58), Fuca (79).

SIN-BIN: Williams (51).