Games between these two sides in recent seasons have never failed to entertain and with so much riding on the outcome, this was another edge of the seat contest. It was third versus fourth with both clubs battling for a chance to take on Topsham RFC in the Regional 1 promotion play-off, so it was no surprise it was a nervy affair at a tension-filled Astley Park. The visitors struck first but it was the home side that held sway leading 17-7 at the interval. The Saints were the better team in the second period, but a mixture of determined home defence and a disrupting run of injuries saw Brixham do enough to see out a 27-21 win.

There was an eager anticipation ahead of kick-off, two teams renowned for their running rugby, a firm pitch basking in the early spring sunshine and a contest with a lot riding on the outcome.

Brixham had first use of a surprisingly stiff breeze blowing down the slight slope of the Astley Park pitch. It was the visitors who struck first with a sweeping counterattack from inside their own 22. Two miss passes along the backline, an injection of pace from winger Archie Bees and a perfectly timed pass inside to Ben Saunders. The full-back hit the afterburners on halfway to blaze a trail to the posts to the delight of the travelling Saints supporters along the side. Matt Shepherd slotted the straightforward conversion to put the visitors seven up after seven minutes.

Brixham hit back with a mixture of good fortune and great play exploiting the unpredictability of a bouncing rugby ball on a firm surface. A clearance kick by Saints saw the ball bounce kindly into Joel Ashworth’s hands. The Brixham full-back spotted space in behind the visitors’ backline and kicked high and deep. His diligent chase was rewarded with another kind bounce and a sidestep later he was touching down in the corner (5-7).

A mistimed tackle at the restart ceded easy territory to Brixham who proceeded to pile the pressure onto an increasingly stretched Saints defence. The home endeavours were rewarded with flanker Connor Doneathy going over in the corner (10-7).

Brixham were using the wind to pin the Saints back whenever the opportunity presented itself. The visitors reminded the home side of their potent threat on the counter when winger Max Bullen almost found his way through only to be snared 15m out. Brixham exploited Saints’ hesitation under a high ball with centre William Kingsley reacting first to the bounce to crash over. Fly-half Mitch Pinkus made no mistake with the conversion this time to extend the home lead to 17-7.

The Saints dug deep to pull the home side to one edge before flowing to the other side. A barnstorming charge from Hector Bright saw the flanker crash over the try line to the delight of his teammates and the clear dismay of the defenders. Unfortunately, the referee was unsighted and felt unable to give the try but instead awarded a penalty for a Brixham offside. There was much head-scratching amongst those in red and white on why a penalty try was not warranted given that a score had been prevented.

Right on half time two players went to the ground to contest the ball resulting in an accidental clash of heads. Saints number eight Adam Powell was shown a yellow card which seemed an incredibly harsh outcome.

Despite starting the second period 17-7 down and with 14 men, it was the Saints that made the early running. A catch and drive provided the momentum for hooker Pete Harris to force his way over, converted by Shepherd (17-14).

Cornwall U20s prop Riley Raikes entered the fray for the injured Scott Pearce. With Matt Shepherd nursing a knee problem, Dan Navas came on to the wing with Archie Bees moving to the centre. The visitors were edging the possession and territory and looking the most likely to score next until another setback struck on 66 minutes. Adam Powell’s retaliatory slap after being struck from behind was spotted by the referee who issued a second yellow which meant the Saints would play out the remainder of the game with 14.

Brixham took full advantage with a well worked try to settle home nerves (24-14).

Pete Fletcher was brought on for Tom Daniel to bring renewed energy to the backrow. The youngster was at the vanguard of a promising attack when he was crudely stopped with a neck high tackle that saw Brixham’s Joel Hempton sent to the sinbin. With Fletcher unable to continue, Shepherd returned to the field as the best of the Saints walking wounded.

Despite the disruption the Saints applied the pressure with veteran prop Hugh Noott rolling back the years with a typical bull-like charge deep into the Brixham defence. With more and more home defenders sucked into manning the barricades, it left the door open for Shepherd to limp over from 5m out (24-21).

Home nerves were soothed again when Pinkus slotted over a 30m penalty to allow the home side to see out a 27-21 win and secure their place in the play-off at Topsham RFC on the 25th of April.

The Saints can take great pride from their performance as they demonstrated yet again their ability to overcome in-game challenges. Forced to play 24 minutes with 14 players, beset with injuries during the second half and denied a try in the first they still pushed a good Brixham side all the way.

There are no games over Easter, but the Saints welcome Chew Valley RFC from Bristol on Saturday 11th of April for the final league game of the season and they will be determined to end the campaign on a high in front of the Tregorrick faithful (2:30pm).