St Austell confirmed their position amongst the early season pacesetters with a hard-fought victory over Torquay Athletic in atrocious conditions at Tregorrick Park. It was a frustrating afternoon for the home side who dominated possession and territory in a one-sided affair. The Devonians were unable to launch a meaningful attacking phase and never entered the Saints’ 22 during the 80 minutes. However, Torquay deserve great credit for a tenacious defensive display that limited the hosts to three tries, denying them a bonus point.

The Tics had first use of the elements but failed to harness the storm force wind blowing in from the south-west and running the length of the Tregorrick pitch. It was the Saints that made the early running but found progress difficult against a dogged and resolute defence. The wet and windy conditions made moving play wide quickly difficult and the slippery ball led to a profusion of knock-ons. The attritional forward exchanges suited the bulky Torquay pack and although the home side had the upper hand in the scrums, the breakdown area made for an intriguing contest. On 36 minutes, the home pressure finally told when number 8 Andy Inch picked up after a powerful scrum surge to feed fly-half Chris Ashwin who beat the backrow defence to touchdown. (7-0). Right on half time, Tics’ fly-half Joel Ashworth fired over a wind assisted 40m penalty kick.

With their favourites 7-3 in front having played against the raging tempest, the home crowd were licking their lips in anticipation as the second half got underway. Their expectations looked to be fully justified when Andy Inch finished off a 10m scrum shove early on (12-3), but despite launching wave after wave of attacks the Saints did not breach the try line again until the 72nd minute. Mark Vian stole a Torquay line out on the visitors’ 22 and the ball sped across the Saints’ backline. Winger Cavan Boyer showed great skill to draw the defence before popping the ball to full back CJ Boyce who scored in the corner. Cavan Boyer’s conversion from the touchline took the score to 19-3 and with plenty of time still remaining the home side went in search of the elusive fourth try. Torquay continued to show tremendous spirit and despite a mounting injury list maintained their disciplined rear-guard action to the end to deny the Saints the bonus point.

A large crowd demonstrated their appreciation for the commitment and efforts shown by both sides by applauding the players off the pitch with great gusto. Referee Simon Lord used all his experience to control the match with empathy to enable the game to flow whenever possible.

The Saints are now away to Cornish rivals Truro for two weeks running, next Saturday it is a league encounter (KO 3pm) and the following weekend they make the journey again to start the defence of their Cup (KO 2:30pm TBC).

1 Hugh Noott; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Peter Rowe; 4 Adam Kellow; 5 Mark Vian; 6 Hector Bright; 7 Ian Venner; 8 Andy Inch; 9 Andy Ashwin; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Cavan Boyer; 12 George Tregilgas 13 Shane Johns; 14 Frazer Nottle; 15 CJ Boyce

Reps (All used):
George Knowles; Mark Martin; Liam Freeman

Saints Star Man: Peter Rowe

St Austell:
Tries – Chris Ashwin (36); Andy Inch (46); CJ Boyce (72)
Cons – Cavan Boyer (36, 72)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Torquay Athletic:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens – Joel Ashworth (39)
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Torquay Athletic: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Torquay Athletic: None

Referee: Mr S Lord (Cornwall Rugby RS)