Match Preview

Two away tests passed and one bonus point collected before the Saints finally arrive home for the first Tregorrick tussle of 2019. Tiverton are our very welcome guests as we continue to occupy 2nd place in Western Counties West, three points behind rivals Sidmouth but with them having a game in hand, and if they continue to play as they are, potentially another 5 points to add to that. The sponsors for this match are River Valley Garage who are staunch supporters of St Austell Rugby Club and we hope they enjoy their day…please remember to pick us out a man of the match before the final whistle!

Tiverton entertained Sidmouth last Saturday and the general consensus of feeling over the 29-43 defeat was it was a great game of rugby with 11 tries scored in total to warm the crowd’s cockles and Tiv having no complaints over the result. The match report paints a picture of early Tiv complacency in gathering kicks opening the door for the Sidmouth fast-men to scythe through, finding themselves them at 0-17 in no time at all. The measure of this team and a warning to the Saints was that they did not drop their heads and at one point got it back to 15-22 before Sidmouth again turned the wheel and put some more points on but it was only a missed pass from Tiv that denied them a try under the post and potential losing bonus point in the end.

Saints girded their loins and stepped onto the bus for the longest journey of this season. Bolstered by some of the ‘Massive’ the St Austell collective reached Winscombe without issue and brought home a hard-fought win. Winscombe fielded an effective front row that increased the grumbling from the Saints props and gave them a decent challenge in a league where few seem to bother them. Frazer Nottle had obviously packed his extra fast boots, scoring two of the tries with Rory Jago finishing off a succession of decent advances and of note some good yards gained via Kyle Marriott and Chris Ashwin. Cav Boyer added some with his boot and they returned downhill all the way to Cornwall with an 8-19 win.

It’s worth mentioning St Austell’s defensive record now we are past the halfway point of the season. Currently Saints are joint lowest ‘points against’ on 214 but Crediton have a game in hand so unless they keep a clean sheet and we stray off this excellent defensive path we should rise to the top in that area. Great defensive graft from the Saints will pay dividends as the league and cup progress and it’s going to be an exciting last 10 fixture but It also wears harder on the players putting in the tackles so let’s hope we don’t see too much of a toll on the squad.

Here’s Kyle’s thoughts after Tuesday’s training session: “After two tough away fixtures we are pleased to be back at home this weekend. Tiverton come with a lot of experience and have picked up some good results. It is sure to be a real battle and the Saints squad have been looking within this week, focusing on our own accuracy. We are looking forward to getting back out on home turf with the 16th man behind us. COYS!”

On the topic of the County Cup, Saltash have drawn St Ives at St Ives and we have drawn Wadebridge at theirs. We will advise you all when the date is finalised for ours to be played and a big turnout would be most appreciated by the players.

As I type this mid-morning on Wednesday the Sinners game against Launceston away is still on. Its been a terrible start to the new year for Sinners with 2 from 2 cancelled. We need to get this fixed quickly and players playing…Please all involved make yourselves available and get back on the rugby pony!

See you all at Tregorrick on Saturday (rumour has it there might be burgers available as Gary gets a shake down)
Yours in Rugby

Ian Grantham

Parish Notices

Friday 1st Feb – Live music event at Tregorrick. ‘One for the Road’ will be playing in the clubhouse with doors open from 7pm. This is now re-badged as a FREE EVENT with a 50/50 draw taking place to raise funds for the Saints Family Rugby Fund. Its also conveniently Lesley Bennett’s birthday (I’m not even going to go into the how old debate…too risky). We are showing the 6 nations game (France v Wales) then live music so come along and enjoy the evening with us.

Ale and Cider Fest 2019 – Friday 5th and Saturday 6th April. Get this in your diaries. An expanded event from previous years involving more live music and a broader range of drinks incl. Craft Gins and Proseccos’. Want to sponsor either the Friday night or Saturday afternoon and evening session? We are putting together a really good package for any business that wants to take a greater part in Ale and Cider Fest 19. Contact our Sponsorship manager Julie on juliewhite58@btopenworld.com. Want to sponsor a barrel? Get in touch with Darren at tregorrickpark@hotmail.co.uk to talk about how you can!

Tregorrick Park has again been selected to host two County U20 fixtures. On Sunday 3rd Feb we welcome Devon and on 17th March we welcome Gloucestershire. Both are currently citing a 1pm KO. Everyone is welcome to come up and cheer on the future of Cornish rugby!

100 club –You can still join…Your number will be assigned in the next month’s draw. Feeding funds into purely rugby activities is central to our strategy to grow the whole club, providing help to the people who volunteer at Tregorrick to get qualified and to buy equipment when needed. If we don’t invest in ourselves we won’t progress! The fund that we are placing the money in is explained HERE. The form that you can print off to join is HERE. Please get behind this…3 cash prizes a month and it needs your support!

RFU Grand Draw – Paul Gilder is coordinating efforts with Clair Grantham dealing specifically with Youth, Rhian Roberts with Supporters and Neil Grigg for Senior players. More details HERE but in essence sell some tickets and we will be able to afford some nice new tables which helps us attract more function and events business. Now Christmas is over this is the time to turn our attention to this project...let’s get selling so we can reap the benefits!

Ale and Cider Fest 2019 – Friday 5th and Saturday 6th April. Get this in your diaries. An expanded event from previous years involving more live music and a broader range of drinks incl. Craft Gins and Proseccos’. Want to sponsor either the Friday night or Saturday afternoon and evening session? We are putting together a really good package for any business that wants to take a greater part in Ale and Cider Fest 19. Contact our Sponsorship manager Julie on juliewhite58@btopenworld.com. Want to sponsor a barrel? Get in touch with Darren at tregorrickpark@hotmail.co.uk to talk about how you can!

Pre-Match Lunches – HAVE TOTALLY SOLD OUT! If we get any cup home games (no luck so far this season but we live in hope) then we will quickly run a list to see who wants to come and if sufficient support is available we will run a lunch. Aside from that for the sold out lunches we are running a reserve list. We always seem to get a few drop outs closer to the time at this time of the year due to illness etc so get your name down with Tich today. He’s available on sardineslayer@hotmail.co.uk. More details are HERE.