The free running students have inflicted a number of heavy defeats on their opponents on their rise to the top of the table, so they must have been licking their lips at the prospect of facing the out of sorts Cornishmen. The Saints travelled across the moors in the howling wind and driving rain to Devon’s Cathedral City with a degree of trepidation. Injury, unavailability and suspension forced a reshuffle of the pack and with the absence of centre James Martin who managed to get “lost in transit”, pre-match preparations were far from perfect. By the time they took the field there was a steely determination and a willingness to give their all. The much changed Saints pack still proved too powerful for the student eight as the visitors exploited the atrocious conditions to starve the home side of quality ball for long periods of the game.

The Saints had first use of the gale force wind blowing the length of the Topsham pitch and immediately put the home side under pressure. An early Andy Ashwin penalty flew wide as the Saints bottled the Uni side up in their own 22. On 7 minutes the students showed what a danger they are with ball in hand when they scored an excellent try on their first visit into Saints’ territory with a mesmerising counterattack (5-0). The Saints responded with vigour in a sustained series of attacks but they were left kicking themselves when two lineouts within mauling distance of the Uni line failed to function. The scrum was proving a potent weapon with the visitors seemingly able to reclaim the ball at will. The home side defended resolutely and as the game became more open their backline looked dangerous in attack. The Saints were having to be sharp in defence to prevent any further tries but weathered the storm. On 37 minutes Andy Ashwin slotted a penalty (5-3) and in time added on the fly-half had a chance to edge the visitors into the lead. The difficult 40m kick was on target but fell just short, no one realised then how important a miss that would prove to be in the final tot-up.

Now with the wind at their backs the Uni must have thought the second half would be something of a breeze. They had not reckoned on the granite-like determination of the Saints who went on to dominate the second period but just could not get the score to win the game. A prolonged 10-minute period of pressure camped on the try line proved frustratingly fruitless. Three time Saints’ forwards were held up by brave defenders although number 8 Andy Inch looked to have grounded the ball with the referee unsighted. A succession of 5m scrums ended in penalties as the student pack continued to retreat and collapse. The Saints were left to rue the decision to run a fourth penalty when the move was smothered, surely another scrum was the better option with a pushover or penalty-try a real possibility? The Uni eventually lifted the siege and cleared with a powerful kick to the halfway line. The home side had survived and with it went the Saints best chance of winning the game. The contest became bogged down in midfield as handling of the ball became increasingly difficult in the windy, wet and muddy conditions. With four minutes to go the Saints gave away a penalty on the Uni 40m line, a howitzer kick took play to the Saints 5m. The catch and drive was repelled but a slick handling move saw the Uni go in under the posts (12-3) to spark wild celebrations amongst the students. Flanker Peter Wheeler topped a solid debut by reclaiming the restart and his bull-like run took play to the 22m line. The Saints retained possession for nearly three minutes and ten phases of play to show they were just as capable of running the ball as the students. With the overlap created it still took fingertip control by Ben Chenoweth to grasp the ball before he blazed a trail to the corner. Andy Ashwin’s touchline conversion into the teeth of gale made the final score 12-10.

The losing bonus point was scant consolation for the Saints for a dogged and hardworking performance against one of the leading sides in the league. The conditions undoubtedly proved a leveller and a little more composure in attack would have ensured a vital win. The Saints next game is on Saturday 2 January 2016 when Kingsbridge are the visitors to Tregorrick Park (KO 2:30pm).

Saints’ Man of the Match: Miles Davey – A real inspirational performance from the skipper, a driving force in the tight and prominent around the park with key carries and tackles.

Match Stats:
St Austell:
1 Peter Rowe; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Mark Martin; 4 Will Gilder; 5 Josh Phillips; 6 Peter Wheeler; 7 Jack Grigg; 8 Andrew Inch; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Andy Ashwin; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Shane Johns; 13 Sam Rhodes; 14 Konnor Ewudzi; 15 Callum Wilson

Reps:
Peter Tuckley George Knowles

St Austell:
Tries – Ben Chenoweth (80+ 2)
Cons – Andy Ashwin (80+ 2)
Pens – Andy Ashwin (37)
Drop Goal –

Exeter University:
Tries – 7 minutes, 77 minutes
Cons – 77 minutes
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Mark Martin (76)
Exeter University: 55 minutes

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Exeter University: None

Referee: Mr Adam NIcholas (Devon RRS)