The Saints were made to work hard by a determined and dogged Bude side who never gave up. The Seasiders deserve great credit for their pride-filled end to the match as they reined in the home side to avoid a heavy defeat, cutting the deficit in the process with two late tries to ensure an air of respectability over the final score line.

The Saints applied the early pressure with fly half Andy Ashwin orchestrating his centres like marionettes and it was Liam Freeman who went in under the posts (7-0). An offside at the restart allowed Bude to gain a foothold in the hosts’ 22 and Tully Innes rounded off a rumbling driving maul, converted by former Tregorrick favourite Dan Pearce (7-7). Penalties were exchanged (10-10) before the Saints took control with two well worked tries that revolved around the deft hands of Andy Ashwin. Ben Chenoweth’s arcing run from the wing was perfectly timed to receive a pop pass and a clear run to the line (17-10). Centre Shane Johns took advantage of confusion in a mesmerised Bude defence to burst through and sprint 30m to the posts, his legs a blur of pounding pistons (24-10).

There was no let up after the break either and although Bude did well to keep out some early attacks the pressure soon told. Scrum half Dan Jane put the finishing touch to some fine work by his forwards (31-10). The try of the game came on 58 minutes when a move off the back of the line out was finished in some style by bullocking number eight George Knowles crashing over (36-10). At this point it looked like the Saints would go on to ramp up a big score, but the visitors dug deep to gradually impose a more forward orientated game. Changes in the backline saw the home side lose their earlier fluency and the visitors were now frustrating the Saints at every opportunity. Bude’s endeavour was eventually rewarded when Andy Yates crashed over from another rolling maul (36-17). In time added on, Ed Cook dotted another try and it was left to ex-Saint Dan Pearce to have the final word with a touchline conversion to end the game 36-24.

There was a slight air of disappointment amongst the Saints at the end with the feeling that the two late tries from Bude had taken the gloss off an otherwise good performance. However, returning to winning ways with a bonus point win in a Cornish derby is not to be sniffed at, the visitors just underlined what a competitive league the Western Counties is emphasising there are no easy games at this level. Next week the Saints travel west to face St Ives (Kick Off at 2:30pm).

Man of the Match – Michael Shakespear With skipper Miles Davey out injured it was teenager Michael Shakespear who took the number two shirt for his Saints’ debut. An excellent performance from a talented and hardworking young man; combative in the scrum against an experienced Bude front row, steady at the line out and a great contribution in open play.

1 Charlie Nicholson; 2 Michael Shakespear; 3 Hugh Noott (Capt.); 4 Andy Inch; 5 Adam Pearce; 6 Hector Bright; 7 Jack Nelson; 8 George Knowles; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Andy Ashwin; 11 James Martin; 12 Liam Freeman 13 Shane Johns; 14 Ben Chenoweth 15 Cavan Boyer
Reps:
Mark Martin; Josh Phillips Kellow CJ Boyce

St Austell:
Tries – Liam Freeman (14); Ben Chenoweth (30); Shane Johns (34); Dan Jane (45); George Knowles (58)
Cons – Liam Freeman (14; 30; 34; 45)
Pens – Liam Freeman (27)
Drop Goal –

Bude:
Tries – Tully Innes (20); Andy Yates (73); Ed Cook (80 + 2)
Cons – Dan Pearce (20; 73; 80+2)
Pens – Dan Pearce (27)
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Josh Phillips (71); Adam Pearce (78)
Bude: James Comber (78)

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Bude: None

Referee: Mr A Robinson (Cornwall RRS)