The home side’s dominant scrum had the Ashes in all sorts of trouble and if it was not for their talisman Max Venables things could have been a whole lot worse for the visitors. Venables may have had the number 15 on his shirt but he seemed to pop up everywhere along the backline to ensure the Saints could never rest on their laurels.

Saltash had first use of a surprisingly strong wind on an otherwise very mild and dry day. A welcome change for players and spectators alike after weeks of driving rain and gale force winds on match days! All the early promptings came from the visitors but the home defence was in defiant mood snuffing out any significant threat. The Saints gradually came into the contest as an attacking force and a rumbling catch and drive crashed over the Ashes’ try-line but the ball was held up. This set up a series of 5m scrums and when the third successive one collapsed with the home pack going forward the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try (7-0). The Saints were now in control but could not conjure up the opportunity to extend their lead. With 30 minutes on the clock Shane Johns thrust himself into the spotlight to bring the game to life. First, the centre made a searing 30m break that split the Ashes’ defence with the try line beckoning. Unfortunately, the offload to the “would be” scorer just failed to go to hand and the visitors regained possession to launch a fast paced counter attack that reached the home 22 before it was stopped in its tracks by a stunning tackle from Johns. Sadly, there was a tough price to pay for his lung busting efforts in attack and defence with the Saints’ centre forced from the field with a reoccurrence of his ankle injury. Saltash now had a foothold in home territory but gaps in the resilient home defence was proving hard to find. That was until Venables decided to take the route one approach when he popped up in the 10 berth at a ruck 15m out to run straight through unaccosted under the posts to tie the scores up at 7 apiece at half time.

The Saints started the second half with great energy and a flowing move saw winger James Martin crash over in the corner to restore the home lead (12-7). The home side again looked in control until that man Venables spotted a gap to go on a scything run deep into Saints’ territory. His deft offload allowed the supporting players to maintain the momentum for Craig Jones to touchdown (12-12). The Saints were quickly back in the ascendency and it was a powerful scrum surge to take the ball against the head that set up James Martin’s second try, converted from the touchline by Cavan Boyer (19-12). The feeling in the stands was that given the ding-dong nature of the scoring the next try would be pivotal. Saltash were gaining little return in the forward exchanges and realised their best chance was to play wide and involve Venables as much as possible. At this stage, they were enjoying plenty of possession but found the home side’s iron grip hard to shake off and they rarely crossed the halfway line. The Saints were content to not force the issue and wait patiently for the right moment to strike. That opportunity came on 65 minutes when the home pack drove a Saltash scrum from their 40m line into the 22m. With a penalty award pending, the Saints kept driving until hooker Miles Davey broke away to score (26-12), securing the bonus point to the delight of the Tregorrick crowd. Saltash to their credit never gave up and snatched a well worked try (26-17) but the Saints saved the best to last with a well-executed line out move. Replacement prop George Knowles led the forward pod in midfield that split the visitors’ defence. Second row Tony Knight’s quick hands made sure the ball went wide for James Martin to draw his man before putting wing colleague Ben Chenoweth in the at the corner.

The final score of 31-17 was a welcome relief to the Saints who have next Saturday off before facing three away games starting with a Cornish derby at Wadebridge Camels on Saturday 13 February 2016 (KO 2:15pm).

Saints’ Man of the Match: Mark Martin – Namesake James may have got all the plaudits for his brace of tries and a fine individual performance but victory was built on the power of the scrum. The award could have gone to any of the front row union but Choppy’s unstinting graft at the coal face laid the foundations for a vital win.

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

Reps:
Peter Wheeler; Konnor Ewudzi; George Knowles

St Austell:
Tries – Penalty Try (15); James Martin (42, 53); Miles Davey (65); Ben Chenoweth (75)
Cons – Cavan Boyer (15, 53, 65)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Salatsh:
Tries – Max Venables (38); Craig Jones (46); Connor Cooper (70)
Cons – Max Venables (38)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Salatsh: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Salatsh: None

Referee: Mr James Milliner (Cornwall RRS)