The league leaders found the third from bottom Moorlanders in the mood to cause an upset but survived a torrid first half to extend their unbeaten start to the season. Crucially the Saints remained in touching distance at half time despite being on the back foot for most of the first 40 minutes. After wrestling a degree of control from the hosts in the second half, the Saints edged into the lead before going on to win the match late on.
Tavistock kicked off and immediately took full advantage of the wind and steep slope to pin the visitors down in their 22. The Saints spurned two opportunities to clear their lines and were made to pay when quick hands allowed winger Duncan Law to score an unconverted try. The Saints finally were able to get out of their half and equalised through flanker Rob Jeffs following a neat blindside move from an attacking scrum. Tavvy continued to exploit the slope to great affect with fly half Richard West’s aerial bombs cleverly dropping short of the Saints’ try line, turning the defenders. Unfortunately the visitors were becoming architects of their own downfall by haphazardly running the ball out of defence. Ball carriers were becoming isolated and two penalties for holding on were converted by West to put the home side back in front. Saints were now hanging on and the pressure finally told on 31 minutes when livewire flanker Doug Lloyd finished off a flowing move. West’s conversion made the score 18-5 and in truth only a mixture of heroic Cornish tackling and poor handling by the home side prevented a bigger lead. Colt Sam Conybeare came on for his debut, replacing the injured Sam Rhodes, and the youngster delivered an assured performance at full back. With half time looming centre James Earp stole over for a crucial score for the Saints. The conversion took the score to 18-12 which meant that despite being well below par the Saints were still in range of the Devonians at half time.

The second half set of at tremendous pace with the Saints on the attack down the slope. After several quick phases had committed the defenders, hooker Jack Grigg grounded the ball under a pile of bodies. The try was given to the relief of the Saints’ coaching team, who no doubt would have questioned the decision to ignore a three man overlap! Scrum half Matt Shepherd’s conversion nudged the Saints’ into the lead for the first time. The joy was short-lived as Tavistock again made the Saints pay for laxity with the ball in midfield, after the carrier again became isolated and was turned over. The ball was moved quickly and with the visitors’ defence out of position winger Dan Luffman strolled over for an unconverted try. That was the last sight the home side had of the Cornish try line as the Saints’ finally got to grips with the Tavistock game plan. A break by Shepherd was well supported by the forwards, with talisman lock Adam Pearce in the vanguard. The ball was spun out to winger Alex Welland, who found himself on a tightrope with the touchline but kept his balance to power over in the corner. The Saints finally made the game safe when Shepherd stole the ball following great pressure on the home scrum from the Cornish 8. Displaying skills more usually associated with the round ball game, the scrum half dribbled the ball over the try line before touching down under the posts. Shepherd’s conversion completed the scoring at 31-23 denying the home side even the consolation of a losing bonus point.

That was tough on Tavistock who had given the Saints a thorough examination, but you do not top the table without having grit and dogged determination as part of your armoury. A resolute second half allowed the Saints to pull through despite not playing anywhere near their potential. The win sees the Saints now 9 points clear at the top, although 2nd placed Bideford have a game in hand. St Austell will aim to rekindle their free flowing rugby against mid-table Wellington next week at Tregorrick (Kick Off 3pm).

Match Stats:

St Austell: Rowe; Grigg; Martin; Pearce; Haley; Jeffs; Winterbottom; Howarth; Shepherd; Ashwin (Captain); Rhodes; Earp; Venner; Welland; Tank
Replacements (All used) Cotton; Colvin-Stunell; Conybeare

St Austell:
Tries – Jeffs (11); Earp (34); Grigg (44); Welland (65); Shepherd (78)
Cons – Shepherd (3)
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Tavistock :
Tries – Law (5);Lloyd (31); Luffman (47)
Cons – West (1)
Pens – West (2)

Yellow Cards: St Austell: None Tavistock : None

Red Cards St Austell: None Tavistock : None

Referee: Garry Chown (Devon RRS)

Saints Man of the Match: Sam Conybeare