This was far from a routine win though as they were made to work hard for their nine tries by a tenacious Chard who never gave up across the eighty minutes. The Somerset side belied their lowly league position with a committed display that tested the home side particularly in the scrum. The Saints rose to the challenge presented to score some excellent tries by mixing forward power in the loose with speed and guile out wide.

The first signs of Spring meant near perfect conditions for rugby and the Saints got off to a high tempo start. Chard were working hard to keep the home side at bay as wave after wave of attacks pushed them back into their 22. The visitors did well to resist for so long in the face of almost incessant pressure until flanker Rory Jago powered through a gap on eight minutes to feed Dan Tyrell. The winger rounded the Chard defence to finish near the posts ensuring an easy conversion for Matt Shepherd (7-0). The home side continued to dominate territorially but were finding it tough going against a resilient rearguard action. Another surging run from Rory Jago looked to have created an overlap but a last ditch tackle just as the pass was being made caused the ball to go forward denying the supporting Sam Parsons an easy run into Apples Corner. Dan Tyrrell and Matt Shepherd combined superbly to finally break the Chard resistance with the Saints full-back showing great strength to finish in Frosties’ Corner (14-0).

The visitors continued to frustrate the Saints for long periods, but they were unable to stop scrum-half CJ Boyce who exhibited great awareness to take the ball from a stalling maul and side-step his way to the try-line right on half-time (19-0).

The Saints gained an early foothold in the Chard 22 at the start of the second half and a quick tap penalty by Kyle Marriott allowed CJ Boyce to spin the ball to centre Sam Parsons who crashed over under the posts despite the attentions of three Chard defenders (26-0). Chard responded well to conceding the bonus point try to put the home side under some pressure but the Saints defence was at its belligerent best and a long clearance kick gave them a lineout foothold in the visitors’ 22. A heaving catch and drive was moving forward and with all Chard shoulders trying to prevent the inevitable, flanker Cam Taylor spun off down the blindside to dive in at the corner. Matt Shepherd’s superb touchline conversion made the score 33-0 with 51 minutes gone.

Any thoughts that Chard’s stubborn resistance would finally be ended were soon dispelled when the Somerset side scored two tries in three minutes. The outstanding Emil Szydelko was at the root of the resurgence orchestrating a well-worked move for winger Fin Shoemark to score in the corner (33-7). The gangly full-back then intercepted a Saints back move on the 22 to then out pace the home side on a 80m dash to the try-line. After catching his breath, he slotted the conversion to make it 33-14 heading into the final quarter. Unfortunately the Chard hero turned villain when he was shown a Yellow Card for a high tackle.

The Saints were quick to take advantage of the gap at the back, fly-half Chris Ashwin passed off the floor to Sam Parsons who stepped inside his opposite number to glide in under the posts (40-14). The Saints turned up the heat in the final six minutes of the game to score three more tries with Chard feeling the strain from their efforts. Centre Ben Plummer straighten his run and timed his pass to Matt Shepherd to perfection. The Saints full-back used winger Fraser Nottle as a decoy while he arced his run into the corner (45-14). From the restart the Saints attacked again and Sam Parsons purred through a gap like a Lamborghini at a classic car meet. A swift pass to Hector Bright enabled the flanker to power home from the halfway line (52-14).

With time up the home side were awarded a penalty on their 10m line. Instead of kicking the ball dead the Saints elected to run one last hurrah to the delight of the home crowd. The ball went through multiple phases with Shepherd and Parsons prominent throughout before winger Cavan Boyer showed great athleticism to dive in the corner to make the final score 57-14.

The bonus point win maintains the Saints 12-point gap at the top of the league and with just four games remaining they will be determined to complete the job. Next week sees their biggest challenge of the season when the Saints travel to second place Crediton in what could prove to be a pivotal game. The Devonians have a game in hand and will need to end the Saints 13 game unbeaten run if they are to have any chance of reeling in the Cornishmen. All roads lead to Crediton on Saturday 18th February 2023 in what is sure to be a titanic clash at Exhibition Road (kick-off at 2:30pm).

Saints Star Man: Sam Parsons – A superb performance from the Saints outside centre, full of poise, guile and power to grab a well-deserved brace of tries.

Saints
1 Dan Job; 2 Miles Davey; 3 Charlie Nicholson; 4 Joe Maunder 5 Rob Jeffs; 6 Rory Jago; 7 Cam Taylor; 8 Kyle Marriott; 9 CJ Boyce; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Dan Tyrrell; 12 Ben Plummer (Capt.); 13 Sam Parsons; 14 Fraser Nottle; 15 Matt Shepherd

Reps (All used):
Matt Boothby; Cavan Boyer; Hector Bright

St Austell:
Tries – Dan Tyrell (8); Matt Shepherd (23, 74); CJ Boyce (39); Sam Parsons (45, 65) Cam Taylor (51); Hector Bright (78); Cavan Boyer (80+2);
Cons – Matt Shepherd (9, 24, 46, 52, 66, 79)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Chard:
Tries – Fin Shoemark (54); Emil Szydelko (57)
Cons – Emil Szydelko (55; 58)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Chard: Emil Szydelko (61)

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Chard: None