The pitchside temperatures may have peaked at 17° centigrade but it must have felt like a furnace at times for the Tics. The visitors defended valiantly throughout, especially in the first half when they were almost under constant pressure. However, whenever the Saints upped the tempo they just could not cope with the variety, pace and power of the home side.
In recent encounters the Devonians have often intimidated inexperienced Saints’ sides, so the home side were determined to impose themselves on the game from the outset. Two scrums against the heads in the opening exchanges set the rhythm for the opening quarter as the Saints applied the early pressure. Flanker Adam Kellow burst through a gap to feed skipper Miles Davey for the first try (7-0). Straight from the restart a flowing counter attack set full-back Toby Robinson on his way to stretch the lead to 12-0. The visitors defended bravely but they were helped at times by some handling errors from the home side. All that changed in the 25th minute following a slick move triggered by quick ball off the top of a line-out from Tony Knight. The ball whizzed through the backline and a glorious side-step, a burst of acceleration and a perfectly timed pass from Chris Ashwin enabled Adam Kellow to gallop over (19-0). The half ended with the Tics under almost intolerable pressure, winger Ben Chenoweth was stopped just short, Adam Kellow was held up and scrum half Dan Jane looked to have scored but was adjudged not to have grounded. There were no doubts about number 8 George Knowles’ efforts though, which included a monstrous hand-off en route to the try line that sent a Torquay player on his way to an unscheduled visit to Charlestown. Chris Ashwin’s third conversion of the half brought the opening 40 minutes to an end with the score at 26-0.
The Saints started the second half like a hot Sirocco wind blowing in from the Sahara Desert to bag three tries in ten scintillating minutes. First prop Hugh Noott popped up at inside centre to glide over with gazelle like qualities (33-0). Veteran flanker Ian Venner used all his experience to snipe over from close range (38-0). Andy Ashwin was revelling in his role in the centre and showed quick thinking and slick hands to send Toby Robinson down the touchline to collect his second try (45-0). Not surprisingly the tempo of the game dropped as the unfamiliar sunshine and heat took its toll. The visitors gained a foothold in the Saints’ half for the first time in the contest and threw caution to the wind to run a series of penalties, sloppily conceded by the home side. The attacking endeavour was rewarded with a consolation try grabbed by winger Nathan Pring after some good approach work by the Tics’ forwards. The game became a little ragged and bogged down in the middle of the park, but it was reignited following a stunning break by Shane Johns. The diminutive centre slipped a pass to Miles Davey who threw an outrageous dummy as he ghosted unhindered over the line (50-5). A well-executed backs move provided just reward for Shane Johns (57-5) but the best really was saved for last. A flowing team try with Adam Kellow continuously involved like some maniacal puppeteer with the ball seemingly going through every pair of hands at least once. A looping run by Adam Kellow bamboozled everyone at Tregorrick except prop Mark Martin who remained on hand to accept the pass like a plate of roast potatoes on Mother’s Day (62-5).
The result enabled the Saints to leap frog above Torquay Athletic into 8th spot and they will attempt to do the same to 7th placed Sidmouth next week when they travel to Devon for their last away league game of the season (KO 3:00pm).
Man of the Match – Adam Kellow On a day of many contenders across the forwards and backs, it was an inspiring 80 minutes of hard work and dedication capped off with a try and a hand in several others that swung it towards the flanker.
1 Hugh Noott; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Charlie Nicholson; 4 Tony Knight; 5 Adam Pearce; 6 Max Duggan Adam Kellow; 7 Jack Nelson; 8 George Knowles; 9 Dan Jane; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 CJ Boyce; 12 Andy Ashwin 13 Shane Johns; 14 Ben Chenoweth; 15 Toby Robinson
Reps (All used):
Ian Venner; Callum Hayne; Mark Martin
St Austell:
Tries – Miles Davey (8, 70); Toby Robinson (11, 50); Adam Kellow (25); George Knowles (39); Hugh Noott (43); Ian Venner (48); Shane Johns (76); Mark Martin (79)
Cons – Chris Ashwin (8, 25, 39, 43, 50, 79)
Pens –
Drop Goal –
Torquay Athletic:
Tries – Nathan Pring (56)
Cons –
Pens –
Drop Goal –
Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Torquay Athletic: None
Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Torquay Athletic: None
Referee: Mr A Denham (Cornwall Rugby RS)