It was the first derby between these two rivals in four years and Truro arrived on the back of four straight wins. The visitors exuded confidence in the warm-up and there was much optimism amongst the travelling support, however they rarely threatened with the Saints in control for most of the eighty minutes. The home side combined a dominant pack with fast moving back play and were able to call upon determined defence on the few occasions the visitors went on the offence. It was an excellent all-round display from the Saints, who weathered Truro’s adrenaline fuelled opening charge with a degree of ease before wrestling control to grab three tries before the interval. The second half was pretty much one way traffic with the Saints adding another five tries to inflict a heavy derby day defeat on their closest rivals.

Truro had first use of strong breeze on an otherwise dry day attacking the Sports Hall end and immediately set their stall out with some big hits around the contact area. A well struck wind-assisted 50:22 put the home side under early pressure but Saints Captain Mark Vian steadied the nerves with the Gorran Lighthouse rising majestically to steal the lineout. The Saints gradually started to impose some control on the game to exert some pressure on the Truro try line. Two collapsed catch and drives must have come perilously close to penalty try territory but a move from a 5m scrum delivered the reward. With the pack trundling forward a pushover try was on the cards before number eight Kyle Marriott picked up to feed full back Matt Shepherd, who with a dainty pirouette, lost his marker to open the scoring in “Apples Corner” with 16 minutes gone. (7-0). Truro looked to respond but found making headway against the home defence difficult. A brilliant turnover from hooker Miles Davey triggered frustrations in the visitors’ ranks forcing Referee Callum Hill to have the first of what would be many talks to Truro to curb their backchat. A scrum on halfway provided the platform for fly-half Chris Ashwin to surge through a gap in the Truro midfield with surgical precision to feed Matt Shepherd joining the attack from full back. The pass to Fraser Nottle was timed to perfection and the winger finished in style (12-0). Things threatened to boil over when Truro full back and Captain Luke Tidball pushed Dan Tyrrell unceremoniously to the ground, but the Referee was on hand to calm the situation and issue the inevitable yellow card to the miscreant. Down to 14 men Truro played their best rugby of the afternoon retaining possession and playing with a measure of control that they had rarely demonstrated in a frenetic opening quarter. Their endeavour was eventually rewarded when fly half Ashley Hosking slotted a penalty on 36 minutes (12-3). The Saints first up tackling had been excellent throughout the first period and with half time approaching centres Ben Plummer and Sam Parsons again applied the pressure forcing a Truro clearance kick to be horrendously skewed. Dan Tyrrell was first to react, and the diminutive winger gathered the ball to sprint 40m to score to the delight of the watching massive. Matt Shepherd’s touchline conversion made it 19-3 at the turnaround.

Any hopes that Truro had of rescuing the game were gone within a minute of the restart. Another loose clearance was gathered by Matt Shepherd and a swift interchange of passes with Dan Tyrrell followed by a chip and chase saw the Saints full-back grab his second of the afternoon (26-3). Quick ball provided by the pack allowed the mercurial Chris Ashwin to launch his eager backline with Fraser Nottle finishing a flowing move in the Sports Hall corner. Matt Shepherd nailed yet another touchline conversion to take the score to 33-3 with 47 minutes on the clock. Prop Dan Job was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, but any aspirations Truro had that the scrum would tilt in their favour with the dominant loosehead off the field were quickly dispelled. Having elected to take the penalty as a scrum, youngster Matt Boothby to join the fray as front row replacement and the Saints took the ball against the head. The game became a bit fractured and niggly for a period, but the Saints soon regained territorial ascendency. It proved to be third time lucky for replacement winger Cavan Boyer who in the space of five minutes had one pass deemed forward and one just fail to go to hand before he popped up in the centre to round off another excellent backline move (40-3). A long clearance kick from Matt Shepherd was matched by three willing chasers and the hard-working Ben Plummer forced a penalty as the visitors desperately held on to the ball. A line out catch and drive was on its way over the line when it was collapsed leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty try and issue a yellow card to the Truro second row (47-3). The final act came from glorious quick ball off the lineout from Mark Vian, the ball spun across the back line before centre Ben Plummer cut back against the grain to wrong foot the Truro defence and feed flanker Hector Bright whose intelligent supporting run gave him a clear route to the try line. The conversion made the final score 54-3 and an emphatic win for the Saints.

Saints Star Man: Miles Davey – The Saints hooker was part of a dominant pack that exerted control over the set pieces and the breakdown to provide a solid platform for the backs. Diligent tackling and some key turnovers to prevent Truro from gaining any sustained momentum.

The Sinners continued their winning streak in Counties 2 making it four in a row with a hard fought 39-22 win at Helston. Konnor Ewudzi grabbed two tries with Antony Knight, Max Bullen and George Hutchinson also crossing the whitewash to ensure the bonus point. George Hutchinson’s deadly boot weighed in with two penalties and four conversions.

The Spartans were without a game so played an inter-club friendly which allow 26 players to get out on the field and enjoy a game of rugby.

Next Saturday 22nd October 2022 the Saints make the short trip Wadebridge Camels for another Cornish derby (KO 3pm). The Sinners are at home to Illogan Park in the Counties 2 league in a 3pm kick off at Tregorrick. The Spartans fixture is yet to be confirmed.

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

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

St Austell:
Tries – Matt Shepherd (16, 41); Fraser Nottle (26, 47); Dan Tyrrell (39), Cavan Boyer (67); Penalty Try (72); Hector Bright (76)
Cons – Matt Shepherd (16, 39, 41, 47, 67, 76)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Truro:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens – Ashley Hosking
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Dan Job (50)
Truro: Luke Tidball (26); Ashley Riches (76)

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Truro: None

Referee: Callum Hill (Bristol RRS)