It was an error strewn encounter at Tregorrick punctuated by frequent stoppages due to handling errors and a raft of penalties. The inexperience of the St Austell side showed as they allowed themselves to be sucked into an attritional forward battle that suited the bigger Truro pack. In a game of few opportunities Truro took the chances that came their way with aplomb and once in front their cast iron defence ensured they kept the spoils to deservedly win the game.

The home side started brightly enough showing that if they kept the tempo high and the ball moving they would create space out wide. Truro however proved masters at slowing the ball and the game down as the first half quickly turned into a drab affair played almost exclusively between the two 22m lines. The plethora of penalties at the breakdown and the scrum eventually delivered the first points of the game. Toby Armstrong put the visitors in front on 30 minutes after the Saints were caught with hands in the ruck. Andy Ashwin equalised just before half time with a simple kick following an offside to leave the things all square at half time at 3-3.

Truro got the breakthrough ten minutes into the second half after an incisive break by centre Matt Cross was followed by a deft offload to Danny Dunstan and the scrum half dived over for an unconverted try. The Saints looked to hit back immediately and applied intense pressure on the Truro line. It took a succession of penalties to keep the hosts at bay with the inevitable yellow card going to Dunstan for a deliberate knock on. Andy Ashwin’s penalty put the Saints just 2 points behind with the final quarter looming. Truro’s defence held firm but the game was becoming increasingly fractious and it was no surprise when a mass brawl erupted in the 73rd minutes. When the dust settled Saints’ number 8 Adam Kellow and Truro prop Darren Jacques were both shown red cards. The dismissal meant that Truro had no fit front row replacement so the game moved to uncontested scrums and the Saints cause was further hampered with the loss of locks Andy Inch and Mark Vian to injury. As confusion reigned in home ranks the visitors exerted pressure and with Saints defenders sucked in, prop Ethan Pattison flopped over the line under the posts. Remarkably the routine conversion was missed giving the home side feint hopes of a draw with 4 minutes left. Try as they might they could not break through and there were vociferous Truro celebrations at the final whistle.

This was a hugely disappointing performance by St Austell who rarely managed to get any pace on the ball against a determined defence. Truro coughed up a remarkable 22 penalties in their determination to keep the Saints at bay but the home side were unable to either kick the points or make use of the territory gained. There was better news elsewhere with the Sinners securing a handsome 53-17 victory over Newquay Hornets IIs in their inaugural Duchy League game. The Colts continued their unbeaten start to the season with an emphatic 60-0 win down at St Ives. Next week the Saints travel to Penryn for the quarter final of the Cornwall Cup (KO 2:30pm). Remarkably the Sinners play their first home game of the season with Penryn IIs the visitors to Tregorrick (KO 3:00pm).

Saints’ Man of the Match: Jonny Keen –A baptism of fire for Jonny making his Saints’ debut in the unfamiliar position of full back. The teenage put in a solid display in the face of a tough physical examination that was crowned by a “David v Goliath” moment in the second half. The diminutive full back showed both bravery and good technique to stop Darren Jacques dead in his tracks with a head on tackle when the bulky ex-Cornwall prop was on a rhino-like charge.
 

Match Stats:

St Austell:
1 Peter Rowe; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Mark Martin; 4 Andrew Inch; 5 Mark Vian; 6 Jack Grigg; 7 Will Gilder; 8 Adam Kellow; 9 Andy Ashwin; 10 Callum Wilson; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Billy Jones; 13 James Martin; 14 Sam Rhodes; 15 Johnny Keen

Reps:
Hugh Noott; Ian Venner; Peter Tuckley

St Austell:
Tries – None
Cons – Andy Ashwin (39, 56)
Pens – None
Drop Goal –

Truro:
Tries – Danny Dunstan (51); Ethan Pattison (76)
Cons – None
Pens – Toby Armstrong (30)
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Truro: Danny Dunstan (56)

Red Cards:
St Austell: Adam Kellow (73)
Truro: Darren Jacques (73)

Referee: Mr Andy Robinson (Cornwall RRS)