Gale Force Saints Take The Win

Match report by Paul Hayes
Photo by Dave Philips

Gale force Saints take the win!
St Austell 22 Bideford 5

On a day of howling winds and driving rain, St Austell overcame a stubborn Bideford side in this top of the table clash. The Saints had the slight edge in an error strewn first half but with the wind at their backs after the break, the home side eased away from their Devon rivals.

The visitors had first use of the strong winds, but it was the hosts who had the larger share of possession. Both sides struggled in the opening quarter to adapt to the conditions or find any continuity in their play. The Saints eventually gained some attacking momentum leading to a prolonged period of pressure on the Bideford try line. The visitors gave away a succession of penalties in an increasingly desperate defensive effort and when the home side were caught holding on too long Bideford were able to clear the danger with their line still intact. The deadlock was eventually broken on 26 minutes when Bideford won a turnover in midfield. An astute chip kick into the Saints 22 saw winger Charlie Richards winning the foot race to touch down in the corner (0-5). The Saints surged back and from a 5m scrum number eight Kyle Marriott crashed over to level things up. The conversion from debutant James Tucker saw the home side take a 7-5 lead into the break.

The Saints started the second half with real purpose moving the ball rapidly to test Bideford’s defensive mettle. A promising attack was brought to a juddering halt with a clothesline tackle on James Tucker just as he appeared to have found a gap. A long lecture from the referee followed but the debates amongst the crowd on whether it was red or yellow card offence ended when play continued with the Bideford miscreant surprisingly escaping any further sanction. Thankfully James Tucker was able to dust himself off to despatch the penalty with ease to push the home side further ahead (10-5). The home pack were now dominating at the scrum and a 5m scrum surge drove the Bideford pack backwards at a rate of knots allowing scrum half CJ Boyce to touch down (15-5).

The Saints were now rampant, but Bideford proved to be tenacious defenders m, holding the home side up on three occasions during a prolonged period of almost constant pressure. The breakthrough eventually came just after the hour mark when Kyle Marriott forced his way over for his second try, converted by James Tucker (22-5).

The search for the bonus point was derailed when the home side were reduced to thirteen men in the space of two minutes. Diminutive Dan Tyrell was given a yellow card when his full-bodied tackle on the Bideford number eight was adjudged to have been too robust. Moments later an off the ball incident led to Saints lock Mark Vian getting first use of the showers. The Saints had to dig deep to prevent Bideford exploiting their numerical advantage and very nearly chalked up the fourth try in time added on when a surging run from Dan Tyrell almost split the Devonian defence.

With Wellington’s trip to Teignmouth falling foul of the weather, the win saw the Saints return to the top of the league. Next week the Saints travel to third place Chard in what will no doubt be a stern test for the league pacesetters (KO 2:30pm).

1 Mike Shakespear; 2 Miles Davey (Capt.); 3 Peter Rowe; 4 Tony Knight; 5 Mark Vian; 6 Andy Inch; 7 Cameron Taylor; 8 Kyle Marriott; 9 CJ Boyce; 10 James Tucker; 11 Fraser Nottle; 12 Liam Freeman 13 Ben Plummer; 14 Max Bullen; 15 Cavan Boyer
Reps (All used):
Mark Martin; Harry Pyatt; Dan Tyrell

Saints Star Man: Cameron Taylor – Absent for several weeks through injury, Cam gave an all action display with some thunderous hits in defence and great pace in attack.

St Austell:
Tries – Kyle Marriott (30, 61); CJ Boyce (48)
Cons – James Tucker (30, 61)
Pens – James Tucker (42)

Bideford:
Tries – Charlie Richards (26)

What’s Coming Up

Saturday 16th November - Colts v Ivybridge in the Colts National Cup 2.30pm KO. FREE ENTRY. Bar open and all welcome.

Youth Section Christmas Parties - Older Players Party incl. Silent Disco Friday 13th December 7pm. Younger players party incl games and Santa visit Sunday 15th December 2pm. Ticket details to follow soon. Open to all youth players!

Saturday 14th December- last Saints home game before Xmas! Saints v Kingsbridge, roast dinner raffle, reindeer racing and more. Details HERE

Sponsors Day - Saturday 4th January 20. If you’re one of our sponsors then you’re invited to a spot of lunch on us! If you’re not one of our sponsors and are now thinking ‘why aren’t I?’ get in touch at st_austellrfc@outlook.com to find out the opportunities. If you haven’t received an invite then get in touch on the email below.

Ex-Players Day - 11th January 20 - We’ll very soon be in a position to give you the full details around this day and so much more! For now and in summary if you’re an ex-senior level St Austell RFC player this is going to interest you. For a sneak preview of what we are about to put in place, and if you can’t wait for the official launch, catch Miles Davey, Tony Knight or Ian Grantham for a chat.