It was St Austell’s first ever visit to Royal Wootton Bassett and two evenly matched teams who were both determined to play in a high tempo attacking style delivered an entertaining game at Ballards Ash. Ultimately the telling difference was that RWB made fewer mistakes, and the home side ruthlessly punished the unforced errors made by the Saints.

The visitors got off to a promising start and were dominating the early possession. However, a penalty ceded the territory, and the home scored with their first foray into the Saints 22 (5-0). The Saints hit back with series of fast paced attacks that stretched the home defence and eventually the pressure told with winger Dan Tyrrell scoring in the Clubhouse corner. Matt Shepherd’s touchline conversion put the Saints in the lead (5-7). All the hard work was undone when hesitation under the restart kick allowed RWB to recover the ball and score under the posts (12-7).

The Cornish scrum was on the top but were penalised despite pushing the home pack backwards on the 40m. Disagreement over the decision saw the mark moved 10m and that indiscipline was to prove costly. The penalty was put into touch deep inside the 22 and a well drilled catch and drive delivered seven points (19-7). The Saints again reacted positively to the set back and RWB were starting to cough up the penalties as the pressure built. Mixture of guile from Archie Bees and power from Matt Boothby paved the way for Dan Tyrrell to score his second try (19-14). With the interval approaching fly half Chris Ashwin was shown a yellow card for preventing quick release of the ball, and a long-range penalty made it 22-14 at the break.

Eager to make the most of the advantage in numbers, the home side started the brighter. Just as it seemed the Saints had weathered the storm, RWB found an uncharacteristic gap in the defence to score a converted try (29-14). Back came the Saints and RWB were again forced on the backfoot with visitors moving the ball from edge to edge. With advantage being played for a third consecutive offside, the ball was spread wide to Dan Tyrrell. The Saints’ winger was unceremoniously dumped into touch in the scoreboard corner. With the Cornish support looking for a penalty try; play was brought back to the original offence in the opposite corner of the pitch. A yellow card was issued to RWB and any linger feelings of aggrievement were dispelled when Matt Shepherd wiggled over from the resulting catch and drive (29-21). This really should have been the launch pad for a comeback but frailties at the restart again gave the home side an easy seven points (36-21). Having wrestled the momentum back from the Saints, the home side took full advantage with two converted tries in quick succession to seemingly knock the stuffing out of the visitors. Prop Matt Boothby had other ideas leading the charge to secure a try scoring bonus point (50-28). That seemed to light a spark under the Saints and a flowing move instigated by Archie Bees put Dan Tyrrell in for his hat trick (50-33). With time in the red, the Saints full back decided to get in on the scoring and sliced through the home defence, his superbly angled run left five would-be tacklers grasping thin air to make the final score 50-38.

The Saints made the long journey home to Cornwall lamenting the costly mistakes that gifted the home side some easy scores. Next up Saints are home to Ivybridge (Kick Off 2:30pm).

Saints Star Player Dan Tyrrell – Restored to his favoured position on the wing after filling in at scrum half in recent weeks, the diminutive flyer was a constant thorn in the home defence. Three tries scored and only a near decapitation preventing a fourth!