Both sides were left kicking their heals last weekend as their matches fell victim to the weather. The fact that this was the Saints first game since 14 December 2013 explained some of the ring rustiness in a frenetic opening quarter which saw the two sides share five tries. The home side took control after the break but the visitors deserved great credit for their rugged defence and commitment to restrict the Saints to three second half tries.

The Saints started at high tempo at a sun-kissed Tregorrick Park forcing Sidmouth to concede two early penalties. Opting for a scrum the Saints launched a blindside move to enable fly-half Matt Shepherd to glide in for a try after just 3 minutes. Given the relative league positions of the teams many in the large crowd could have been forgiven for thinking that the floodgates were about to open. Sidmouth had other ideas and hit back almost immediately stringing together some good phases. Number 8 Josh Bess did extremely well to recover the ball from a retreating scrum to launch a powerful drive that eventually saw lock Nick Mills touchdown. Skipper Dan Retter added the conversion to put the visitors in front. The Saints then hit the visitors with two quick fire tries, first flanker Ian Venner finished off a well-executed catch and drive routine. This was followed at the restart by a blistering 50m dash from winger Ashley Taylor that left the Sidmouth defence trailing in his wake. Shepherd’s conversion put the home side 17-7 in front but the lead was soon reeled back by Sidmouth. An excellent break by flanker Dwight Pansegrouw stretched the home defence and the Sidmouth forwards piled through to drive the ball over the line. The try was awarded to James Slater and moments later Retter added a neat drop goal to bring the visitors within two points at 17-15 and barely 20 minutes on the clock. The home side started to dominate possession but were finding Sidmouth determined in defence. Patient build up play finally paid off after a series of drives sucked in defenders, the ball was then moved wide and a deft chip kick by full back Dan Pearce enabled winger Darren Pellow to touch down in the corner. Right on half time a flowing move was finished off by Taylor to put the Saints 27-15 ahead at the break.

The Saints started the second half at a blistering pace and were using their ascendancy in the scrum to launch the backs at every opportunity. A tackle bursting run by Steve Howorth saw the flanker power over under the posts, Shepherd converted (34-15). The Saints continued to press but Sidmouth maintained their shape and defensive structure to frustrate the home side. Eventually the pressure told when prop Hugh Noott found a gap to burrow over (39-15). Excellent work by forwards Adam Pearce, Ian Venner and Adam Kellow created the momentum for Noott to sprint over from 15m. Shepherd’s conversion brought the scoring to an end with the Saints winning 46-15.

Next week the Saints face their biggest challenge of the season when they travel to North Somerset to take on second placed Hornets. Both sides are in great form and it promises to be an exciting game of rugby.

Match Stats:

St Austell: Martin; Grigg (Jack); Noott; Pearce (A); Grigg (Jeremy); Howorth; Venner; Kellow; Ashwin; Shepherd (Captain); Pellow; Welland; Wilson; Taylor; Pearce (D)
Replacements: Davey; Tank; Rowe

St Austell:
Tries – Matt Shepherd (2); Ian Venner (10); Ashley Taylor (12, 39); Darren Pellow (30); Steve Howorth (46); Hugh Noott (64, 66)
Cons –
Pens – Matt Shepherd (12, 46, 66)
Drop Goal –

Sidmouth:
Tries – Nick Mills (6); James Slatter (17)
Cons – Dan Retter (6)
Pens –
Drop Goal – Dan Retter (20)

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Darren Pellow (43);
Sidmouth: Gavin Pearson (43);

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Sidmouth: None

Referee: Simon Lord (Cornwall RRS)

Saints Man of the Match: Matt Shepherd