Down to 14 men for most of the second half following a red card for Adam Kellow, the visitors grabbed a 13-10 lead going into the final quarter. The Camels built up a head of steam in the closing stages and the determined rear-guard action finally cracked to the delight of the home crowd. To rub salt into the wounds it was former Saint Callum Wilson who slotted the final conversion to deny his former club the consolation of a losing bonus point.

The opening quarter was a typical derby affair, full of passion and commitment with defences on top. It took until the 24th minute before home fly-half Danny Thomas scored the first points after the Saints had strayed offside (3-0). The Saints responded well to exert some sustained pressure in the home 22, a promising break from winger Ben Chenoweth was cut short by a high tackle. The visitors were awarded the penalty but no further sanction was applied to the would-be tackler, a leniency that was not unfortunately granted in the second half. The Saints looked to have scored when prop Hugh Noott crashed over but with the referee unsighted, no try was awarded. Any feelings of grievance were short lived as soon after, centre Liam Freeman finished off a good move under the posts (3-7). The visitors were now on top and with half time looming, the Saints looked to be on the verge of extending their lead. Fifteen consecutive phases had the Camels defence stretched and with an overlap beckoning the ball needed to be quickly moved wide. Liam Freeman opted for a drop goal only for the unpredictable swirling wind to take the ball wide of the posts.

Camels started the second half at a high tempo that had the visitors on the back foot. It still took a moment of individual brilliance from number eight Mike Rawlings to break the defence with a 40m slalom run to the line that lit up the late afternoon gloom with a fine solo try (10-7). Replacement Adam Kellow caught a Camels’ player high with a trailing arm after being wrong footed by a side step in open play. Before Christmas the sanction would probably have been a yellow card, however with the increased focus on contact to the head in recent weeks everyone at Molesworth knew the colour would be red. The Saints dug deep and two Liam Freeman penalties gave the visitors an unlikely lead with 15 minutes remaining (10-13). The visitors defended valiantly but the pressure took its toll in the end with two late tries from flankers Dickie Dawe and Matt Ballard to seal a home win.

There was better news in the earlier kick off when the Sinners overcame a determined Camels second string to win 36-5. It was 7-5 at halftime after a tight and even opening period before the Sinners tool control in the second half to run out worthy winners.
Next week the Saints are at home to Bude (Kick Off at 2:30pm).

Man of the Match – Liam Freeman Solid in defence, menacing in attack and deadly with the boot, Liam scored all of the Saints’ points and was a constant thorn in the Camels’ side.

1 Charlie Nicholson; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Hugh Noott; 4 Andy Inch; 5 Adam Pearce; 6 Hector Bright; 7 Jack Nelson; 8 George Knowles; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Andy Ashwin; 11 James Martin; 12 Liam Freeman 13 Shane Johns; 14 Ben Chenoweth 15 CJ Boyce

Reps:
Mark Martin; Cavan Boyer; Adam Kellow

St Austell:
Tries – Liam Freeman (7); Ben Chenoweth (9); James Martin (27); Max Duggan (30); Cavan Boyer (42, 45); Shane Johns (49); George Knowles (69)
Cons – Andy Ashwin (7, 27, 30, 42)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Bude:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Bude: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Bude: None

Referee: Mr M Turfrey (Cornwall RRS)