Derby Day Draw puts a dent in Saints dreams!

The first of three consecutive Cornish derbies saw the Saints fail to press home their first-half dominance, the game was far more evenly contested after the break with neither side able to land the winning blow.

An overnight downpour made for a heavy and sticky pitch and the persistent drizzle made handling difficult, but the Saints started in a confident mood to dominate territory and possession. The home side defended valiantly to deny the visitors a clear sight of the try line and their willingness to send the ball skyward proved to be a reliable pressure release valve. Remarkably it was Falmouth who took the lead with their first foray into the Saints half, an astute chip kick and a lucky bounce saw centre Tom Edmonds streaming towards the try line. Saints’ fullback CJ Boyce's brilliant tackle looked to have saved the try only for the ball to break for Matt Poole to squeeze in at the corner (5-0). Saints looked for an immediate reply with Ben Chenoweth going close, Peter Rowe looked to have scored but he was adjudged to have made a double movement in the grounding. The Saints’ prop was not to be denied however and Falmouth could not prevent his bulwarking charge to the line, Liam Freeman added the conversion to give the visitors a narrow 5-7 lead at the break.

The Saints started in a determined fashion to lay siege in the Falmouth 22 and the pressure finally told when number eight George Knowles powered over (5-12). A clever a switch kick at the restart caught the Saints napping and allowed the home side to gain a foothold in the visitor’s half. Falmouth built up a good head of steam to clock up the phases creating the platform for prop Ollie Andrews to crash over to tie the scores (12-12). Falmouth were now in the ascendancy and it was the visitors turn to be put through their defensive paces. The Saints stemmed the tide and with 5 minutes remaining created a blindside move off a scrum that had number eight George Knowles and replacement winger Alex Welland bearing down on a single defender. Frustratingly the chance was stopped in its tracks for a binding infringement, on a day when the Saints were bossing the scrum and the ball gone it felt like a hard call. Falmouth had one last chance to snatch victory with a long-range penalty that drifted wide to leave the scores tied at the end.

The Saints remain in second place with a three-point gap over Devonport Services who will continue to chase hard in what will be an exciting climax to the season. Thoughts turn now to the County Cup and Saints will be welcoming the newly crowned Western Counties West Champions St Ives to Tregorrick Park for what promises to be a mouth-watering semi-final next Saturday (14:30 KO).

St Austell
1 Peter Rowe; 2 Miles Davey; 3 Mark Martin; 4 Tony Knight; 5 Mark Vian; 6 Andy Inch; 7 Jack Nelson; 8 George Knowles; 9 Andy Ashwin (Capt.); 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Liam Freeman 13 George Tregilgas; 14 Cavan Boyer; 15 CJ Boyce

Reps (All used):
Hugh Noott; Alex Welland; Charlie Nicholson

Saints’ Star Man: C J Boyce – The Cornwall U20 player was outstanding under the high ball in atrocious conditions. Superb in defence and a menace in attack, CJ continues to go from strength to strength.

St Austell:
Tries – Peter Rowe (34); George Knowles (46)
Cons – Liam Freeman (34)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Falmouth
Tries – Matt Poole (19); Ollie Andrews (51)
Cons – Justyn Irons (51)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Referee: Mr D Saunter (Cornwall RRS)