Cash-strapped Redruth pay team some of their wages

Redruth are fifth in National Two South after being relegated from National One

Redruth have paid their players some of the money owed to them.

The club announced last month that it was struggling to pay the squad's match fees after registering a £40,000 loss.

Redruth has set up a players' fund which has so far raised £28,000, about a third of what is needed to pay off the money the squad is owed.

"We've settled up with the players for September and a proportion of their October match fees," director of rugby Dave Penberthy told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"It's a superb result from a number of people who've helped us out."

And Penberthy has praised his players, who travel to Old Albanians in National Two South on Saturday, for the way they have acted during the recent problems.

"I can't speak highly enough of them because they've all bought into it. It was very difficult to start with and I think the disruption was evident in our results," he said.

"But there's a different feel now and there's a good team spirit and I'm sure we'll pick ourselves up and move forward."

But Penberthy reiterated that the club's problems were not short-term.

"It's not just about looking after the players for the couple of months, we've got a season until the end of April," he added.

"There's a lot of hard work to be done and it's an ongoing process of raising money."