The Saints made their way up the Atlantic Highway bursting with confidence after some excellent recent performances, but they were well and truly beaten on the day by a buoyant Bude side. The Seasiders hassled and harried the visitors throughout, forcing the Saints into a catalogue of errors and preventing them from gaining any real foothold in the game. The Saints were quite simply awful and the home side were in the mood to take full advantage and two second half tries to one ensured a well-deserved win for Bude.

The less said the better about a turgid and scoreless first half that was lacking in quality and coherence. Suffice to say the highlights were 3 missed penalty shots, two for Bude’s Dan Pearce and one for the Saints’ Matt Shepherd. Pearce also missed with a long range drop goal attempt, but with neither side threatening the try line it was a welcome relief when the half time curtain was brought down with the scores tied at 0-0.

The Saints started the second half with vigour; excellent work from lock Adam Pearce on receiving the kick off created some real forward momentum for the first time in the match. The ball was driven to just inside the Bude half before centre Ian Venner broke free and blazed a 40m path to score an unconverted try in the corner. Despite an initial bout of pressure, The Saints were unable to build on this score as the game again became mired in a forwards battle with neither pack able to gain any sustained ascendency. The game turned in a 7 minute period with the Saints’ paying the price for letting their frustrations get the better of them. Flanker Paul Winterbottom was sin-binned for one encroachment too many, allowing Bude to set up a line out close to the Saints line. A catch and drive was initially repelled, but a second surge saw hooker Paul Cholwill driven over under a pile of bodies. Dan Pearce’s touchline conversion put the Seasiders in front and visibly boosted the confidence of the home side. The Saints were soon under pressure again but the defence appeared to be sustaining the home charge. Then calamity happened, as is so often the case it is the retaliator who is spotted rather than the perpetrator and Shepherd was shown yellow after reacting to a sly pull of the jersey. Dan Pearce wasted no time in punishing the 13 Saints with a quick tap and run to score under the posts, before getting up to convert his own try. Saints tried to mount a comeback but found Bude stoic and resilient in defence. The visitors’ cause was helped in the final ten minutes when first flanker Richie Herzog was yellow carded for persistent offending and then prop Jason Bolt was sent off for a needless punch. Try as they might the Saints could not find a way through and it was a jubilant Bude side that celebrated a 14-5 win at the final whistle.

This was a sobering experience after the highs of recent weeks and one that should dispel any illusion that the Saints were on a triumphal march to promotion. By any measure this was a poor performance underlining that there are no easy away days in the Western Counties. Every single point has to be earned through hard work, dedication and total focus. The Saints collectively dropped off the high standards they have set this season and found an eager Bude ready to take full advantage. The Saints will look to home comforts to return to winning ways next week when Devonport Services are the visitors (KO 2:30, Saturday 24 November 2012).

Match Stats:

St Austell: Rowe; Grigg; Martin; Pearce; Haley; Cotton; Winterbottom; Howarth; Shepherd; Ashwin (Captain); Earp; Murley; Venner; Welland; Tank

Replacements: Colvin-Stunell; Taylor; Nelson

St Austell:
Tries – Venner (42)
Cons –
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Bude:
Tries – Cholwill (56); Pearce (63)
Cons – Pearce
Pens –

Yellow Cards:

St Austell: Winterbottom (55); Shepherd (62)

Bude: Herzog (72)

Red Cards St Austell: None Bude: Bolt (74)

Referee: Kristofor Connabeer (Devon RRS)

Saints Man of the Match: None awarded