The victory makes it 10 wins from 10 games for the Saints and stretches their lead at the top to fourteen points. Bideford were by far the best side the Saints have played this season and the two teams served up a highly entertaining game of counter attacking rugby. The home side had to be at their best to come out on top, and after a first half that ebbed and flowed one way then the other, the Saints took control of the second forty to seal victory.

Bideford started the game at the gallop and immediately put the hosts under pressure. A penalty for not releasing was efficiently dispatched by fly half Ollie Wickett. The Saints regained the ball from the restart to launch a tirade of pick and go drives that punched deep holes in the visitors’ defence. Skipper Andy Ashwin decided to put an ensuring penalty to touch instead of going for posts, only to see scrum half Matt Shepherd held up over the line. The Saints kept trying to turn the screw and looked to have scored when centre James Earp broke through only for the move to be pulled back for a forward pass. Bideford had weathered the first storm of the afternoon and now looked to increase their lead. First they tried the frontal approach with a series of scrums close to the Saints’ line but it was their turn to find a brave defender preventing the ball from grounding. Bideford then tried to use their strike runners coming in off their wings but found the Saints drift defence equal to the challenge. A clever Wickett’s kick over the top saw winger Sam Olde just beaten in the race to the ball by his Saints counterpart Alex Welland. On 30 minutes the home side struck with lock Sean Haley providing quick ball off the top of a line out. Quick hands through the backs allowed centre Ian Venner to slice through the defence and score under the posts, with Shepherd converting. Bideford hit straight back but again found the Saints’ defence organised and resilient. A sublime chip by Wickett looked to have put Olde through but the winger was adjudged to have gone just too soon and the try was disallowed for offside. An action-packed first half closed with the home side 7-3 in front.

The Saints started the second half with real purpose and never really relinquished control, with the majority of the game played out in Bideford territory. The visitors defence held firm under increasing pressure until the Saints’ forwards started to rumble, driving a maul almost 30m deep into the Bideford 22. Finally Shepherd, who gave a real livewire performance at scrum half, broke free to drive over the line. The indomitable “9” composed himself to convert his own try doubling the home side’s score. Bideford launched a determined effort to get back in the game but found the Saints closing off and isolating their runners in midfield. Eventually they had to settle for a long range Wickett’s penalty and never really looked like threatening the try line. From the restart the home side were back in the driving seat and an increasing penalty count led to an inevitable yellow card for Mike Williams. Shepherd slotted the three points to restore the 11 point margin. The home side continued to probe to the final whistle with Bideford forced to run from deep in increasingly desperate attempts to break out as time ebbed away. Referee Darren Curry, who had an excellent game, brought the curtain down on what was a fantastic advert for Western Counties rugby.

Saints now have a break from the league next week when they take on South West One side Wadebridge Camels in the quarter final of the County Cup. Saints will be hoping home advantage will help them to go one better in this rerun of last season’s cup final, kick off is 2:30pm at Tregorrick Park (Saturday 10 November).

Match Stats:
St Austell: Rowe; Grigg; Martin; Pearce; Haley; Jeffs; Nelson; Howarth; Shepherd; Ashwin (Captain); Tank; Earp; Venner; Welland; Murley
Replacements (All used) Inch; Colvin-Stunell; McCoan
St Austell:
Tries – Venner (30); Shepherd (55)
Cons – Shepherd (2)
Pens – Shepherd
Drop Goal –

Bideford:
Tries –
Cons –
Pens – Wickett (2)

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: None
Bideford: Mike Williams (65)

Red Cards St Austell: None Bideford: None
Referee: Mr Darren Curry (Cornwall RRS)
Saints Man of the Match: Matt Shepherd