In front of the President of the Rugby Football Union and a bumper crowd in lovely playing conditions witnessed St Austell maintain their position at the top of Western Counties West but don't be fooled by the score.

Penryn came out of the blocks at a frantic pace placing the the home side under severe pressure, the Saints resilient and quick defence caused Penryn to make errors and at this early stage a little more imagination from the visitors would have made the Tregorrick Park massive wonder if an upset was on the cards. A cagey first half was illuminated by moments of brilliance Penryn's forwards taking the play to the Saints in controlling the scrum and had they have had a more
cohesive link to their backline then they could well have made the pressure count. In the 20th minute Penryn's Alex Ducker burst through the line of St Austell's defence but a perfect tackle and turn over from Saint's Scrum Half Matt Shepherd stopped a certain score. The Saints were growing stronger as the half progressed and a Sin Bin for Ducker gave the home side the extra man. 28 minutes in and the crowd is on it's feet but Saints Flanker Paul Winterbottom is
judged to have been held up on the try line, but the enigma that is Paul Winterbottom from the resulting series of plays in the Penryn 22 then powered his way through to score in the 32nd minute, the conversion was missed and Penryn responded with a penalty opportunity that narrowly missed followed by an extended period of injury time with the Saints playing their best rugby of the half giving Centre Ian Venner the chance to scythe his way through the visitors line for the half to finish 10 -0.

Saints started the second half at the same tempo, a great restart kept the play deep in the opposing half, the ball was fed to Captain and Fly Half Andy Ashwin who delivered the perfect drop goal gaining 3 more points and settling any early nerves. The mid field battle continued and it was Penryn who broke the deadlock with a series of pick and go's from their forwards which opened up enough space for Wing Jake Martin to open the visitors account. With the time heading toward
the final quarter the match started to become an enthralling display of running rugby, both sides making huge breaks and on the 68th minute some fabulous interlinking play between home Wing Alex Welland and No8 Steve Howarth enabled Howarth to score and take the lead to 18-3, Penryn tried to rally but the Saints fitness training should be rewarded, the whole team stepped up yet another gear and the outstanding Saints Full Back Sam Tank scored two tries late on,
the first with such style that would make any defence look almost shocked! add a hard conversion kick scored by Matt Shepherd only for Tank to repeat the action with yet another sublime break to score again. The conversion missed but the Saints well deserved win keeps them at the top.

Saints Man of the Match Second Row Sean Haley, Next week the Saints are at home to Torquay Athletic.

Attendance Approx 400

Saints

Tries 5 Winerbottom, Venner, Howarth, Tank (2)
Cons 1 Shepherd
Drops 1 Ashwin

Penryn
Try Jake Martin