Saints travelled to Crediton who lay 2 places below them in the table hoping to gain points on the sides around them in this bottom of the table dog fight. The fixtures had thrown up a real opportunity for the Saints as lowly Penryn played at home against in-form Truro while all of the other sides in the bottom half played away at sides near the top of the table. A win at Crediton, with all other results going to league position would certainly help.

Saints won the toss and chose to receive. While the kick-off was good, Saints failed to secure possession bringing about a period of good Crediton pressure. After recycling the ball several times it was winger Mike Pearce who provided the finishing touches to register an unconverted try wide on the right wing. Saints trailing 5 - 0 after 2 minutes.

It was a nervy start and a portent of things to come as a failure to deal with Crediton restarts proved costly twice more in the game.
Saints responded well and had the better of the next 10 minutes working their way up the field, retaining possession and mixing their game well between backs and forwards. There were strong runs from centres Shane Johns and Calum Wilson while Ben Chenoweth was attacking and defending with his usual vigour. In the forwards Mark Vian, Adam Kellow and Will Gilder were competing well in the lineout with prop Peter Rowe rampaging around the field and showing up well.

This dominance was rewarded after 12 minutes when, after a period of quick recycling, converted flanker Sam Rhodes found himself in more familiar territory on the right wing and finished a flowing move in the corner. The missed conversion left the scorers level at 5 - 5.
Crediton kicked off and again the Saints could not secure the ball. Crediton applied strong pressure resulting in a penalty kick for "not releasing in the tackle" which the excellent Mark Lee just failed to convert.

This let-off seemed to be the spur Saints needed and they set about working their way up -field. Hard aggressive running from skipper Davey and No 8 Knowles backed up by some probing kicks from Ashwin carried them to the opposition 22 for a lineout.
For once the lineout was lost and a towering clearance kick was allowed to bounce causing mayhem deep in the Saints half. From the resulting lineout Crediton performed their catch-and-drive routine to cross the line, Lee added the extras and halftime arrived with Saints 12-5 down.

Saints began the second half as they had played much of the first, playing with confidence but just not able to keep the ball for long enough to put Crediton sustained under pressure. A great touch finding penalty gave Saints the first chance of the second half and following a well-defended catch-and-drive Crediton fell off-side in midfield allowing Cav Boyer to take the 3 points and after 45 minutes the score was Crediton 12 - Saints 8.

Crediton were now under the cosh and on 50 minutes another penalty for an in the air tackle on dynamic fullback Sam Kendall was drilled down the touchline. Once again a catch-and-drive was well executed and when the players cleared away, it was flanker Will Gilder who took the plaudits from his team mates. Converted by Boyer Crediton 12 Saints 15.

If the Saints thought they had done the hard work and would now kick on, they were wrong. Another spilled re-start opened the door for Crediton who once again profited from Saints mistake, battering away before forcing a penalty converted by Lee from 35 metres. Crediton 15 Saints 15.

The next 15 minutes saw the Saints push hard for the win, battering the Crediton line, which was defended magnificently. James Martin came off the bench and made an immediate impact with a blistering 35 m run deep into Crediton territory. There were also 2 catch-and-drives ruled as being help up, which on another day could have been given as tries.

This absorbing game nearly delivered a final twist as Crediton managed to break the Saints stranglehold, force a penalty which was launched downfield to within 10m of the Saints line. You’ve guessed it, another catch-and-drive, and but for a magnificent turnover by the Saints pack, Crediton would have snatched victory with the last move of the game.

With both sides still not safe from relegation it was no surprise that this game was played at a frenetic pace and dotted with errors. Both sides had their opportunities and a little more composure and patience on either side could have brought a different result.
The Saints returned home with 2 points and, as all of the sides around them in the table suffered defeats, leapfrogged Camels to 9th place. With just 4 games to go they have not yet completely secured their place in Western Counties West. Their fate is in their hands and with focus and hard work in some key areas they will be hopeful of ensuring their survival to play in this league next season.

MOM: Pete Rowe – a rock in the tight and a force-of-nature in the loose