St Austell leap-frogged North Petherton to go top of the Tribute Western Counties League after a hard fought victory in front of a large and boisterous crowd at Tregorrick Park. The home side anticipated a tough challenge from the men from Somerset but the score line does not even begin to tell the story of an absorbing encounter. Saints played 60 minutes of the contest a man down after an extremely harsh red card and twice came from behind to win. This was a game for heroes on the pitch and the Saints had fourteen of them, each player dug deep and at every set back the team rallied and responded with discipline and passion.
The Oaks started strongly and immediately put the home side under pressure. Perhaps inevitably, the tension in the air before this top of the table clash spilled over on the pitch. Referee Kristofor Connabeer, on an exchange visit from the Bristol Society, sensibly pulled the captains together after one minute asking them to calm the players. Just 60 seconds later visitors were awarded a penalty for offside and up stepped full back Harry Roberts to slot over the first points. Saints were struggling to get a foothold in the game as Pethy used their pack to great effect to deliver a steady stream of ball to their backs. It was taking good defensive organisation from the Saints to keep the visitors at bay but a second Roberts penalty from 45m fell just short of the target underlining the importance of keeping discipline. Pethy’s first try of the afternoon ironically came just as Saints appeared to have weathered the early storm with scrum half Matt Shepherd starting to launch his back line. A loose kick ahead from Saints allowed Pethy to counter attack and turn the home side’s defence on their heels as play switched from one 22 to the other. Saints coughed up a penalty which was quickly taken by the smart thinking fly-half Jervis Manupenu enabling the ball to be spread wide at speed for winger Gavin Hancock to touch down in the corner for an unconverted try. Things turned from bad to worse when just 5 minutes later Saints were down to 14 men. Centre Sam Rhodes found himself caught on the wrong side of a ruck and the Pethy pack meted out some rough justice on the youngster. With calm restored a shocked Tregorrick Park watched aghast as Referee Connabeer issued a red card; Saints 8-0 down now faced the prospect of playing 3 quarters of the game against the league leaders a man down. Instead of Pethy pressing home their advantage it was Saints who responded with vigour and started to exert some sustained pressure. The visitors' scrum was coming under increasing pressure and Shepherd was able to claw back 3 points after a binding infringement in 27 minutes. The mercurial scrum half just failed with a long distance pot but right on half time he brought Saints back within touching distance with a sublime kick to make it 8-6 to the visitors.
The half time team talk galvanised the Cornishmen who came flying out of the traps to deliver a series of forward drives after gathering the kick off. The Saints found eager ball carriers in Hugh Noott; Choppy Martin; Adam Pearce and Rob Jeffs driven on by Shepherd’s prompting to take the hosts within striking distance of the Pethy line. A knock on seemed to have prevented any further progress but a superb shove by the home pack regained the ball to allow Shepherd to dart over in the corner. The unconverted try put Saints in front for the first time in the game to the obvious delight of the home support. The celebrations were cut short when Pethy responded immediately with the move of the match. Another quickly taken tap penalty by Manupenu allowed him to get his backs moving and an astute pass inside by Hancock allowed centre James Carter to dive over in the corner. Roberts put over the difficult conversion with aplomb to restore Pethy’s lead. The home crowd feared the worse; surely the Saints could not come back from yet another setback? The response was an emphatic yes with the Saints spurred on by Captain Andy Ashwin and Pack Leader Noott, to a man they rose to the challenge. The back row was now disrupting the visitor’s possession at the breakdown with flanker Paul Winterbottom seemingly winning every point of contact. The frustration levels were visibly rising in the Pethy ranks and on the hour mark lock Sam Butler was sin binned for illegal use of the knee as he entered a ruck. Saints took full advantage of the temporary parity in numbers when Winterbottom took a quick tap penalty to steal over for an unconverted try to put Saints in front by the slimmest of margins. With Butler back on and with ten minutes still to go Pethy must have felt confident of overtaking the one point lead but Saints were not to be denied. With a Herculean effort the Saints tackled Pethy to a standstill and crucially lock Sean Haley stole two line outs to deny the visitors the attacking platform they desired. The final whistle was met with roars of approval from the “Massive” who fully realised they had witnessed an epic performance from their favourites against the best team Saints have played this season. Pethy were magnanimous in defeat and were excellent guests on their first ever visit to the Clays of Cornwall; a credit to their Club and to rugby.
This performance saw a young Saints side starting to come of age in a tough league; their 'never say die' spirit made them deserved winners in a close encounter. This was the third time this season the incumbent league leaders have crossed the Tamar and like Torquay Athletic and Bideford before them, Pethy left Cornwall with a defeat that knocked them off their perch. All three will be looking for revenge on home territory in 2012 but for now Saints can enjoy the feeling of being top of the league!

Match Stats:
St Austell: Noott, Hughes, Martin, Pearce, Haley, Grigg, Winterbottom, Jeffs, Shepherd, Ashwin (Captain), Chenoweth, Rhodes, Newberry, Welland, Evison Unused Replacements: Knott, Tank, Swiggs
St Austell: Tries – Shepherd (44); Winterbottom (64)
Cons –
Pens – Shepherd (27, 39)
North Petherton: Tries – Hancock (14); Carter (47)
Cons – Roberts (47)
Pens – Roberts (2)

Yellow Cards: St Austell: None North Petherton: Butler (60)
Red Cards St Austell: Rhodes (20) North Petherton: None
Referee: Kristofor Connabeer (Bristol RRS)
Saints Man of the Match: Hugh Noott