Spirited Spartans Falter at Perranporth

By Steve Murley,

The Spartans made the 20-mile trip West for their game against a Perranporth XV. With no other St Austell senior sides playing, it was great to see the Spartans selecting those who had turned out for this the 3rd xv on a regular basis. The only exceptions were Cam Taylor returning to action after a few weeks off and 18 year old Colt Peter Gasson making his senior debut, the latest player to come from the clubs youth section.

In front of a decent crowd the Spartans began the first half playing away from the club house and within minutes found themselves a try down as the Perranporth backs re-aligned quickly when their scrum was in retreat to score a good try.
4 mins. Perranporth 7 – Spartans 0.

From the re-start Spartans cleared their heads and put together several phases of hard running via their powerful forwards, with Adam Whitehead and Hugh Noott prominent and well backed up by Matt Trehair. As Perranporth ran out of defenders a quick switch to the left saw Billy Jones put centre partner Henry Hutchinson in for a try that was converted by Tom Spry to bring the sides level.
8 mins Perranporth 7 – Spartans 7.

This game had begun at a great pace and as both sides battled around the halfway line, Flanker Cam Taylor suddenly broke away from a maul on the far side of the field. From 60m out he showed great pace to gallop away from the opposition and dive over to give the Spartans the lead.
13’ Perranporth 7 – Spartans 12.

This breathless game continued to swing backwards and forwards between the sides as Perranporth worked their way downfield. The Spartans, keen to get their tackles in, jumped out of their defensive line and the Perranporth centre spotted the gap and darted over.
17’ Perranporth 12 – Spartans 12.

After 21 minutes prop Matt Trehair suffered an injury which, while not serious, meant he could not carry on so veteran prop Ben Trudgian entered the fray
( Replacement – Ben Trudgian on for Matt Trehair 21mins )

Sadly a Perranporth Prop left the field in the 25th minute and with no front row substitute available, this meant that uncontested scrums became the order of the day. This suited the younger and more mobile Perranporth team who began to take control as the Spartans struggled a little to adjust their game.

A mis-placed goal line drop out from the Spartans found the Perranporth back line in acres of space, allowing their Fly Half to gleefully romp in.
28’ Perranporth 17 – Spartans 12

With substitute prop Ben Trudgian also injuring himself, stalwart Darren Thompson came on in the 35th Minute and with no further scores the halftime whistle sounded with Perranporth leading by 17-12.
( Replacement – Darren Thompson on for Ben Trudgian 35 mins )

Skipper Hugh Noott interval pep talk was one of encouraging his team to concentrate on retaining the ball and on playing a structured game without going too soon for the glory pass. Peter Gasson, another youth section graduate, also came on to replace Jay Sloggett for his senior debut.

The second half initially went to plan as good ball retention and quick re-cycling saw the Spartans take play to the Perranporth line. The big fellas had several dabbles but when the referee’s whistle went and the players parted it was diminuitive scrum half Tom Tyrell who had claimed the try. The score was unconverted but the points were now even
44’ Perranporth 17 – Spartans 17.

If the Spartans thought that they had the game under the control, Perranporth gave them a rude awakening as they roared back at them and with some fantastic handling scored a wonderful try to re-take the lead within two minutes.
46’ Perranporth 22 – Spartans 17

Surprisingly it was to be another 20+ minutes before the next score in this entertaining game. In the interim, Spartans worked Henry Hutchinson over the line but some great scramble defence and committed running saw the Perranporth players knock the ball out of his hand before he could dot it down; a crucial turning point.

With the Spartans pushing hard to get level it was Perranporth who stole a turnover and once again took play upfield with aggressive running and good support play before finishing a flowing move with a try.
73’ Perranporth 29 – Spartans 17.

Spartans knew that with time running out, they needed something special to get back into the game and Tom Tyrell delivered again diving over the line to claw them back to a one score deficit.
76’ Perranporth 29 – Spartans 22

Just when the Spartans needed to be accurate, a dropped ball from a scrum, given for a knock on from the restart, gave possession back to Perranporth. They were never going to let this chance be wasted and flowed forward to score a try close to the posts which they converted.
78’ Perranporth 36 – Spartans 22.

With time now against them the Spartans threw everything into recovering the kick-off but this just wasn’t to be and a jubilant Perranporth side ran in one more unconverted try before the referee, Stu Giles, blew for full time.

This was an entertaining and enjoyable game, but the Spartans will be thinking that there were several opportunities to make this game safe, which they could and maybe should have taken. In the end, more discipline in executing their game plan and concentration on accuracy would have probably made this game safe. Perranporth can be pleased with their performance, they spread the ball well and took their chances when the opportunities arose and ended up deserved winners.
Full Time: Perranporth 41 – Spartans 22