Bude 5 St Austell 25 - Saints Marching Onto the Final!

A determined Saints side overcame a spirited Bude team to set up a potential rerun of the 1978 final, that’s provided of course Camborne manage to overcome Wadebridge Camels in the other semi-final scheduled for 17 March 2012.

The fixture was hastily rearranged following the need to accommodate postponed league matches and consequently both teams had to cope with changes to their usual line-ups. It is testimony to the strength in depth at both Clubs that they could select two highly competitive sides in this absorbing cup-tie as well as fielding two winning second strings.

Bude kicked off towards their favoured clubhouse end in bright sunshine on sticky but an eminently playable pitch at Bencoolen Meadow. The home side started with vigour forcing the league leaders to defend the early onslaught. The Saints weathered the storm and started to dominate possession as they moved the ball with purpose and confidence. Sustained pressure on the Bude try line resulted in a penalty for offside which scrum Matt Shepherd converted with aplomb to nudge the visitors in front. Saints moved up a gear to deliver a series of searching attacks that were repelled by a dogged Bude defence. Ian Venner, who turned in an excellent performance in an unaccustomed role at full back, placed a clever grubber kick to turn the Bude defence. The ensuing panic caused the home side to knock-on allowing Shepherd to orchestrate a blindside move that saw winger Ben Chenoweth scorch over in the corner. Shepherd slotted over the difficult conversion to push the Saints to 10-0 with 20 minutes gone. The game lost some of its momentum due in part to the erratic refereeing of Mr Watts from Somerset which left players and supporters from both sides scratching their heads. Shepherd added a second penalty but Bude finished the half strongly laying siege to the Saints line. Number eight Rob Jeffs was bizarrely sent to the sin-bin after being pulled through a ruck but the visitors held firm to finish the half 13-0 ahead.

Bude started the second half in a whirlwind of attacks that sucked in the Saints defenders in a desperate attempt to keep the line intact. The ball spun along the line for hooker Jason Bolt to crash over for a try. In the midst of the home supporters’ euphoria and the missed conversion, was the sight of a bemused Paul Winterbottom trudging to the side line after being shown the yellow card. With the flanker apparently sin-binned for an offside leading up to the try Saints were now down to 13 men and a fired up Bude were looking to take full advantage. However Fly-half Andy Ashwin used all his experience and skill to astutely keep Saints moving forward. Jeffs and Winterbottom were no sooner back on the field when Venner retraced their steps with yet another bizarre yellow card decision. Bude were now throwing everything at Saints and the defending was become increasingly frantic as the home side looked to finally make their numerical advantage tell. Bude looked to have found a gap when Dan Pearce broke through out wide. The winger was caught and dumped unceremoniously into touch by a brilliant covering tackle by Winterbottom. Lock Scott McNally, making his first Saints appearance of the season, coolly collected the ball in the line out allowing Ashwin to finally clear the danger. With Saints back to full strength they started to take control of the game and play in a much more structured manner. The home side’s growing frustration showed and Chenoweth was left dazed by a dangerous tackle that the referee incredibly deemed was not worthy of a yellow card. After prolonged treatment the ever alert Shepherd took a quick tap to fly through a defensive gap before passing to Alex Welland on the Bude 40m line. The Saints winger tore through defenders before being caught 5m from the try line. The Saints exerted huge pressure in the scrum that followed causing the Bude front row to stand-up. Jeffs was first to the ball, tapping and crashing over for an unconverted try with ten minutes to go. Chenoweth was still feeling the effects of the challenge and was replaced by Sam Rhodes; Sean Haren came on for flanker Jack Grigg who had worked tirelessly in the intense forward exchanges. The quick thinking Shepherd set up the final try when from another break he popped the ball out to Winterbottom who stormed over to the delight of the travelling Saints Massive. Shepherd’s conversion allowed the Saints to seal a 25-5 victory and confirm their place in the final.

The man of the match was skipper Andy Ashwin, who despite being ill all week, turned in a real Captain’s performance that combined inspirational leadership and astute play-making to enable Saints to overcome a spirited Bude. In truth, with 6 replacements on the bench, there were 21 heroes today for St Austell RFC underlining the achievements of the whole squad to deliver the first senior Final in 34 years. The big games keep coming at the moment and next week sees the eagerly anticipated clash with Truro in what is sure to be another feisty Cornish derby. Saints will be desperate to avenge their October defeat at St Clements Hill so a lively encounter is expected in the return at Tregorrick Park (kick off 2:30, Saturday 18 February 2012).

Match Stats:

St Austell: Noott; Hughes (Joe); Martin; Pearce; McNally; Grigg (Haren, 71); Winterbottom; Jeffs; Shepherd; Ashwin (Captain); Chenoweth (Rhodes, 71); Earp; Newberry; Welland; Venner. Unused Replacements: Taylor; Hughes (Jack); Williams; McCoan

St Austell: Tries – Chenoweth (21); Jeffs (68); Winterbottom (71)
Cons – Shepherd (2)
Pens – Shepherd (2)
Drop Goal –

Bude: Tries – Bolt (43)
Cons –
Pens –

Yellow Cards: St Austell: Jeffs (38); Winterbottom (43); Venner (56) Bude: None

Red Cards St Austell: None Bude: None

Referee: Mr Watts (Somerset RRS)

Saints Man of the Match: Andy Ashwin