Four tries in either half saw off a determined Bude side who never gave up over the 80 minutes. The visitors had long periods of parity in the forward exchanges but could not contain the pace and slick handling of the home backline who ran in some excellent tries.

The match was preceded with a touching show of remembrance with a beautifully observed two-minute silence followed by a poignant rendition of the Last Post played by Chrissy Double-Knight.

The game kicked off in bright autumnal sunshine with the visitors electing to have first use of the strong breeze. Bude enjoyed territorial advantage in the opening exchanges but rarely threatened the home try line, but they were left stunned by two tries in as many minutes. Good handling by backs and forwards saw the Saints enter the Bude half for the first time and a glorious side step from centre Liam Freeman gave him a clear route to the posts (7-0). Jack Nelson recovered the restart and his deft offload set an attack that enabled winger Ben Chenoweth to win the 50m dash to the line (12-0). Bude bounced back to exert an extended period of pressure in the Saints’ 22, the home defence held firm before turning the tables as the half hour mark approached. Centre James Martin dislodged the ball from a Bude attack to set up a flowing move that went the length of the field shifting through several pairs of hands. The attack was fittingly ended by the man that started it all with James Martin touching down to give the home side a now unassailable 19-0 lead. A stunned Bude could not stop number 8 Max Duggan crashing over from a tap penalty to make the half time score 26-0.

Any hopes that Bude had of getting a foothold in the game were shattered as a rampant Saints side ran in three tries in the opening 9 minutes of the second half. A brace for winger Cavan Boyer and an excellent try from replacement Shane Johns moved the scoreboard to an ominous looking 43-0 with 30 minutes still left to play. Bude deserve great credit for digging deep as they kept the marauding Saints at bay for the reminder of the game. It was only when the home side went back to doing the basics right that they scored again, a slick line out saw lock George Knowles spin off from the rolling maul to barge his way over to make the final score 48-0.

A word of mention for the man in the middle Matt Turfrey, the young Cornish referee gave an excellent display with the whistle to keep an entertaining game flowing. The Saints will now join Truro, Wadebridge Camels and Falmouth in the hat on Sunday 20 November 2016 for the draw for the semi-finals.

It is back to league action next week with the visit of Exeter University to Tregorrick Park (KO 2:30pm).

Saints Man of the Match – Tony Knight – The Saints went into the game shorn of their first-choice second rows, so George Knowles was press ganged into the second row to join Tony Knight earning a deserved call up from the Sinners. Any fears the home would be weakened in the scrum boiler room were soon dispelled with both locks prominent throughout the 80 minutes. Knighter was assured in the lineout and scrum and played a big part in an open game.
 

1 Hugh Noott; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Mark Martin; 4 Tony Knight; 5 George Knowles; 6 Jack Nelson; 7 Ian Venner 8 Max Duggan; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Andy Ashwin; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Liam Freeman 13 James Martin; 14 Cavan Boyer 15 Sam Kendall

Reps:
Charlie Nicholson; Hector Bright; Shane Johns; CJ Boyce

St Austell:
Tries – Liam Freeman (7); Ben Chenoweth (9); James Martin (27); Max Duggan (30); Cavan Boyer (42, 45); Shane Johns (49); George Knowles (69)
Cons – Andy Ashwin (7, 27, 30, 42)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Bude:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Bude: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Bude: None

Referee: Mr M Turfrey (Cornwall RRS)