It was the Saints’ third success of the season over their traditional rivals, but it was a lot harder than the two victories in the league and cup at St Clement Hill back in October. The home side’s recent dip in form and protracted injury list had Truro eying an upset, but with inspirational skipper Miles Davey back in the side the Saints were never going to take a backward step. Indeed, it was the return of one of the long-term absentees who ultimately made the difference, with Max Duggan coming off the bench to grab the winning score.

The Saints had the better of the opening exchanges and when Truro strayed offside Chris Ashwin sent the kick spiralling deep into the visitors’ 22. Truro looked to have stopped the catch and drive in its tracks but failed to see svelte prop Mark Martin stealthily breakaway from the blindside of the maul to athletically dive in at the corner. Choppy’s try became the first score to flash up on the new electronic scoreboard donated to the Club by sponsors M&M Scaffolding and AGAME (5-0). The home side were now enjoying a period of ascendency but could not put the finishing touches to several promising moves. Cornwall U20 full back CJ Boyce almost found a way around the defence only to be forced into touch. Truro stemmed the tide and hands in the ruck allow Craig Williams to put over a penalty from 30m (5-3). Both sides huffed and puffed in the swirling mizzle on the sticky pitch to no avail and the half time whistle gave a welcome chance for the coaches to galvanise their charges.

Truro started the second half in determined fashion and quick thinking saw a penalty run rather than kicked to touch. The tap and go caught the Saints napping as Truro poured over the gain line with the home defence scrambling back to stop the advance. With defenders sucked into the breakdown the ball was smartly shifted wide and a powerful surge by Luke Tidball saw the Truro full-back touch down. Williams’ well-struck conversion put the visitors in front for the first time in the three games played between the two sides this season (5-10). The Saints hit straight back, and Liam Freeman looked to be on track to score under the posts until a Truro offside prevented the score. The Saints were disappointed that the penalty award, duly dispatched by Liam Freeman, was the sum total of the punishment for the prevention of what looked like a good try scoring opportunity (8-10). Truro restored their five-point lead almost immediately when the Saints were penalised for not rolling away after a tackle allowed Williams to take three points with a long-range penalty (8-13). The home side started to dominate possession forcing Truro to giveaway a profusion of penalties as the pressure started to bite. The Saints got their reward for a patient and efficient set of phases stemming from a lineout about 15m out when replacement Max Duggan crashed over to the delight of the raucous home crowd. Liam Freeman stayed calm under the pressure to hit a superb conversion to put the Saints in front (15-13). A penalty from the Saints’ centre deadly boot quickly followed as another Truro transgression was punished with three points (18-13). The visitors were now pinned back continuously in their own half, but the Saints were just unable to convert their dominance into more points on the new scoreboard despite creating numerous opportunities. The final whistle brought loud cheers from the crowd at another derby day win mixed with relief that the Saints’ New Year hangover is finally over.

Next week the Saints travel to Somerset for the longest away trip of the season to take on bottom of the table Burnham-on-Sea (14:30 KO).

St Austell
1 Hugh Noott; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Mark Martin; 4 Tony Knight; 5 Adam Kellow; 6 Andy Inch; 7 Ian Venner; 8 George Knowles; 9 Andy Ashwin; 10 Chris Ashwin; 11 Ben Chenoweth; 12 Liam Freeman 13 George Tregilgas; 14 Cavan Boyer; 15 CJ Boyce
Reps (All used):
Peter Rowe; Peter Tuckley; Max Duggan

St Austell:
Tries – Mark Martin (11); Max Duggan (63)
Cons – Liam Freeman (63)
Pens – Liam Freeman (49, 66)
Drop Goal –

Tiverton
Tries – Luke Tidball (45)
Cons – Craig William (45)
Pens – Craig William (23, 51)
Drop Goal –

Referee: Mr L Maher (Plymouth RRS)