Saints turn on the second half after-Burners!

It was the Saints second visit to Somerset in seven days and the win certainly made for an interesting journey back to Cornwall for the celebrating jumper clad players and supporters.

The Saints were determined to reverse the trend of slow starts and conceding early points in away games and certainly the opening exchanges were promising. The visitors looked assertive in their early work and the home side was mostly pegged back. That was until a penalty for holding on saw Burnham kick for touch to set-up a catch and drive that was driven over from 15m for the first try. With the visitors retreating into their shell somewhat, the hosts looked to press home their advantage but the Saints defence held firm and Burnham rarely troubled the 22 let alone the try line. Ironically the next score came from a counter attack just as the Saints were regaining a foothold in the game. An outrageous dummy by the Burnham number 8 inside his own half saw him sprint to the Saints’ 22 before being hauled down. The Cornish defence had been split asunder, the home side worked the ball to winger Brado Pettitt to score in the corner, Alex Watkins’ conversion took the score to 12-0. The Saints responded well to the set back to exert a prolonged period of pressure in and around the home 5m. The Burnham defence held firm and a Saints offside allowed the ball to be cleared to touch. Frustration among the visitors allowed the home side to advance up the field through two penalties to touch and set up another catch and drive opportunity. This time the Saints held firm driving the maul backwards and the bizarre sight of Saints’ captain Miles Davey having his scrum cap ripped off and thrown into touch. Saints were awarded the penalty but the culprit was very lucky not to receive a yellow card given the focus on contact with the head these days.

The Cornishmen flew out of the traps in the second half and preceded to dominate the next 30 minutes. With the pressure mounting the home side were forced into a panicky clearance which was charged down by Andy Inch. The flanker won the chase to the ball and with the extras added by centre Liam Freeman the Saints were now back in the game (12-7). The visitors were gaining the edge in the scrum to provide a strong platform to launch the backs. The Burnham defence was working hard to keep the Saints at bay but needed to infringe to stop Konnor Ewudzi when the winger almost found a gap. Only a last grasp knock on by Saints prevented a certain try but play was pulled back for an earlier offence and Liam Freeman added the three points (12-10). The Saints finally grabbed the lead with a brilliant move started by an incisive break by centre Shane Johns, debutant Jake Carr showed incredible coolness under pressure, surrounded by Burnham defenders he stepped, twisted and evaded capture to provide Liam Freeman with a deft try scoring pass. The Saints centre maintained his 100% kicking record to convert his own try to extend the visitors’ new found lead (12-17). Having worked so hard to get themselves in front, the Saints were made to sweat to keep hold of the lead by a determined Burnham. A Saints offside allowed the home side to build up a head of steam in the top corner of the pitch. The visitors defending was become increasingly stretched but they managed to repel a series of catch and drives and 5m scrums before stealing the ball. Home frustrations spilled over and some backchat from the Burnham forwards saw a free kick converted to a penalty and the mark moved 10m. The Saints saw out the last two minutes without any further anxiety to secure their first away win since the beginning of October.

For the third away game running, the Saints “won” the second half of a game after losing the opening forty minutes. The good fortune this time round was that the home side did not build up an unassailable first half lead. This was a morale boosting win ahead of the Christmas break, the Saints crossed the Tamar with a raft of injuries and unavailability. It meant a full use of the squad including a late call-up for 17-year-old Jake Carr for his senior debut. The youngster has had a string of excellent performances for the all-conquering Colts and he did the Club proud today with a man of the match performance.

The Saints have a gentle start to 2017 with a string of Cornish derbies starting with near neighbours Truro at Tregorrick Park on Saturday 7 January 2017 (KO 2:30pm).

Man of the Match – Jake Carr On a day when a number of Saints shone in the Somerset gloom it was Jake Carr who took the plaudits after an impressive senior debut for the 17 year old. Assured under the high ball, tenacious tackler in defence and a real threat in attack, Jake provided a moment of sublime skill with a behind the back pass and was instrumental in the winning try. Jake then capped his debut by leading the entire Burnham Clubhouse in a rousing chorus of “We wish you a Merry Christmas!” while standing on a table!

1 Charlie Nicholson; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Peter Rowe; 4 Tony Knight; 5 Adam Pearce; 6 Andy Inch; 7 Jack Nelson; 8 George Knowles; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Andy Ashwin; 11 Konnor Ewudzi; 12 Liam Freeman 13 Keith Chegwin; 14 Jake Carr 15 Chris Ashwin

Reps:
CJ Boyce; Mark Martin; Hector Bright; Michael Shakespear;

St Austell:
Tries – Andy Inch (46); Liam Freeman (67)
Cons – Liam Freeman (46, 67)
Pens – Liam Freeman (58)
Drop Goal –

Burnham-on-Sea:
Tries – Brett Driver (10); Brado Pettitt (19)
Cons – Alex Watkins (19)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Burnham-on-Sea: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Burnham-on-Sea: None

Referee: Mr Nick Heath (Somerset RRS)