The margin of victory may have been narrow but it was fully deserved although Camels pushed the Saints all the way to jangle the nerves of the watching Massive. Games between these two local rivals are always keenly contested and this exhilarating encounter was no different. Played at a frenetic pace throughout the eighty minutes with both sides enjoying periods of ascendency and desperate defence in equal measure. The Saints gained the edge in the scrum and line out in the second half to take control around the hour mark. But the Camels’ ability to counterattack from distance meant that they never let the Saints get out of their sight in the scoring stakes to ensure a tight finish.

The Camels started strongly and looked menacing with the ball in hand and it needed aggressive defence from the Saints to prevent the home side from scoring from their early sorties. The game was being played at an incredible speed with each side attacking in turn, the crowd looked like they were watching a tennis match as their heads followed the ball moving back and forth from one end to the other! The breakthrough finally came when from a Saints line-out, winger Jake Carr set off on a mazy run before a deft off-load put centre Liam Freeman in for the first try (0-5). Camels came storming back and a sliced clearance led to some sustained pressure in the Saints’ 22. A break by centre Will Pengelly was only stopped on the try line by desperate defending but the Saints infringed and were duly punished by fly-half Danny Thomas (3-5). Liam Freeman restored the 5 point margin with a 30m penalty and the visitors really should have done better with some pressure late in the half. Chris Ashwin and Shane Johns combined to split the Camels’ defence, but the ball was spilled as the try line appeared. Right on half-time Saints had the chance for a line-out catch and drive but the ball was knocked on and the half finished 3-8 in the visitors’ favour.

Camels started the second half in determined mood and a well-executed running move enabled centre Joe Petty to score under the posts. Thomas’ conversion put the home side in front (10-8) and the home support was now in full voice in anticipation of more to come. The Saints though had other ideas and the pack started to turn the screw in the forward exchanges. Full back Cavan Boyer almost scored from a fabulous kick and chase, but the Saints lead was restored with another Liam Freeman penalty, awarded after an obstruction in the build-up (10-11). A scrum won against the head deep in the Camels’ 22 gave prop Hugh Noott the launchpad to blast-off over the line like a North Korean rocket for a converted try (10-18). The momentum swung back to the Camels when a break out of their own half had the Saints scrambling back in defence. The initial charge was contained but with Saints penalised for holding on, Thomas had no problems adding the three points (13-18). The visitors were now enjoying a prolonged period with the upper hand and after a succession of near misses from George Knowles and Adam Kellow twice, the ball was swung out wide for winger Ben Chenoweth to dot down (13-23). With just five minutes remaining Camels threw caution to the wind and their hard-running backs made a deep incursion into Saints’ territory, the home forwards pounded away until flanker Dicky Dawe forced his way over for a converted try (20-23). The Saints were now looking nervously at the clock and a needless penalty at a scrum gave the Camels one last chance to add to the anxiety. It was too far out to kick so the ball was tapped and run only to be halted by a magnificent tackle by Shane Johns who also ripped the ball cleanly to feed Miles Davey. The Saints’ skipper gleefully kicked the ball into touch to bring the curtain down on a truly memorable game.

Next weekend the Saints are at home to fourth place Kingsbridge (KO 2:30pm).

1 Hugh Noott; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Peter Rowe; 4 Adam Kellow; 5 Mark Vian; 6 Andy Inch; 7 Hector Bright; 8 Max Duggan; 9 Andy Ashwin; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Liam Freeman 13 Shane Johns; 14 Jake Carr; 15 Cavan Boyer

Reps (All used):
Tony Knight; George Knowles; Mark Martin

Saints Star Man: Andy Inch
Sharp’s Brewery Man of the Match: Liam Freeman

St Austell:
Tries – Liam Freeman (5); Hugh Noott (55); Ben Chenoweth (73)
Cons – Liam Freeman (55)
Pens – Liam Freeman (25; 50)
Drop Goal –

Wadebridge Camels
Tries – Joe Petty (42); Dicky Dawe (78)
Cons – Dany Thomas (42, 78)
Pens – Dany Thomas (20, 66)
Drop Goal –

Referee: Mr S Lord (Cornwall RRS)