Hector’s Halloween Hat Trick!

While the men from the Levels never gave up and showed great spirit throughout, they were outclassed for most of the eighty minutes. The Saints pack dominated the set piece and the visitors struggled to contain the pace and slick passing of the home backs. Six first half tries were followed by seven more in the second period in a sparkling display that lifted the ghostly Autumnal gloom hanging over Tregorrick.

In a sign of things to come, Bridge were pushed off their own scrum just 10m from the try line allowing number eight Kyle Marriott to pick up and slip the ball to fly half Chris Ashwin for the simplest of run-ins after just nine minutes (7-0). The next try came from a Saints put-in to a scrum on the halfway line, the ball was spun wide to Max Bullen. The spring heeled winger has been in great form for the Sinners in recent weeks and he showed his finishing prowess to outpace the opposition on a 40m run to score in Frosties’ corner (12-0). Bridge’s defence managed to stem the tide for 15 minutes or so, but they had no answer to the catch and drive finished off by Cornwall U20 Joe Maunder (19-0). The final ten minutes of the first half saw the Saints run in three tries, the first was a glorious exhibition of movement and passing finished off in style by Konnor Ewudzi in Apples Corner (24-0). The scorer then turned provider with a powerful run and deft off-load to the omnipresent Hector Bright who showed an impressive turn of speed to go in under the posts (31-0). In time added on centre Ben Plummer provided the link between Max Bullen and Matt Shepherd allowing the Saints full-back to swallow dive under the posts to make the half-time score 38-0.

Any hopes Bridge had that the second half would be different were dispelled within four minutes of the restart. First Max Bullen grabbed his second taking the ball from four metres this time in sharp contrast to the forty-metre dash for his first (43-0). An overhit restart gave Matt Shepherd the time and space to stroke a superb 50:22 kick deep into the opposition territory. Joe Maunder secured the lineout and scrum half CJ Boyce’s clever sniping run and offload set Hector Bright up for his second try of the afternoon (50-0). Konnor Ewudzi capped a fine individual display with a pirouette to collect a pass that went behind him to score his second try and confirm his place on next week’s Strictly (57-0). Centre Sam Parsons, so often the provider got his name on the score sheet with the tenth try of the game (64-0). Hooker Miles Davey showed great pace and guile on a powerful 50m slalom run in front of the stands to touchdown in the Gym corner (69-0). Good work by prop Charlie Nicholson cleaned up some scrappy lineout ball allowing Hector Bright to then pinball his way to the try line for his third of the afternoon (76-0). The final score of the afternoon came from a back move finished off by Matt Shepherd, who then kicked his ninth conversion of the game to make it 83-0. With the game moving into time added on, Bridge went in search of some late consolation, but they found themselves up against the meanest defence in the league determined to keep the clean sheet.

It was a hard day for Bridgwater, but they showed great togetherness and team spirit which should see better times ahead. True to the traditions of rugby they were great fun in the Clubhouse after the game and no doubt had an enjoyable journey home to Somerset.
Next Saturday 5th November 2022 the Saints head off to Chard and the tight confides of Essex Close pitch (KO 2:30pm).

Saints Star Man: Hector Bright – Another high energy display from St Austell’s very own Duracell Bunny. Diligent in defence and constantly appearing on the shoulder of the ball carrier, Hector was in the thick of the action throughout. An impressive hat-trick was the reward for a hard-working performance.

The Sinners made it six in a row beating Liskeard-Looe 40-5 at Lux Park. George Hutchinson put the Sinners into a strong position by scoring the first 16 points. A penalty, followed by a try and a conversion made it 10-0 inside the first half-hour. George added two more three pointers before Fraser Nottle got in on the scoring act going over for a try just before the half-time whistle to make it 21-0 at the turnaround. The Sinners continued to apply the pressure and having got a taste for the whitewash Fraser Nottle scored two more tries to complete his hat trick and confirm the bonus point, both were converted by George Hutchinson to make it 35-0. Full back Toby Hodson added the final try before the Lions nicked a late consolation to make the final score 40-5. With Veor losing heavily at leaders Saltash, the Sinners have closed the gap on third place to just one point. Next weekend the Sinners will be hoping to continue their good form when they welcome Newquay Hornets to Tregorrick in a 2:30pm Kick Off.

The Spartans faced Helston IIs, who were a little short on numbers, so the match was played under the RFU’s “Game On” principles with some of the home squad guesting for the visitors. This created a highly enjoyable and competitive game that was a lot closer than the 42-5 score line would perhaps suggest. The Spartans fixture for next week is yet to be confirmed.

Saints Match Stats

1 Dan Job; 2 Miles Davey; 3 Charlie Nicholson; 4 Mark Vian (Capt.); 5 Tony Knight; 6 Joe Maunder; 7 Hector Bright; 8 Kyle Marriott; 9 CJ Boyce; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Max Bullen; 12 Ben Plummer 13 Sam Parsons; 14 Konnor Ewudzi; 15 Matt Shepherd
Reps (All used):
Dan Tyrrell; Rob Jeffs; Matt Boothby

St Austell:
Tries – Chris Ashwin (9); Max Bullen (13,43); Joe Maunder (27); Konnor Ewudzi (30, 52); Hector Bright (39, 45, 67); Matt Shepherd (40, 73); Sam Parsons (57); Miles Davey (65)
Cons – Matt Shepherd (9, 27, 39, 40, 45, 52, 57, 67, 73)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Bridgwater & Albion:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Bridgwater & Albion: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Bridgwater & Albion: None

Referee: Rob Lowe (Cornwall RRS)