A last minute penalty from scrum half Matt Shepherd capped a dogged comeback by league leaders St Austell to secure victory over a resolute Wellington side. The game was played in atrocious conditions with the Somme-like mud, hand numbing winds and heavy rain and hail showers making handling difficult and lineouts a lottery. Welly held sway in the first half but the Saints were dominant in the second period and their patience was rewarded with a converted try and Shepherd’s penalty grabbing victory at the death. The win was the first ever by a St Austell side at Wellington and pushes the Saints seven points clear at the top with four league games left.

The Saints started well and surprisingly tried to move the ball despite the conditions. The gamble nearly paid off when a 3 on 2 overlap was created in the corner, but a hesitation in the pass allowed Welly to intercept and clear the danger. The Welly pick and drive game started to rumble with great affect allowing the home side to dominate possession and make steady progress into the visitors’ half. More and more Cornish defenders were being committed to defence and Welly then released hard running winger Anthony Gill who powered over for an unconverted try. The Saints were having to dig deep to keep the home side out as they launched their strong and aggressive back row at every opportunity. The defensive shield cracked in the 26th minute although there was more than a suspicion of a forward pass in the build-up when lock Trae Gosling burst through a gap to score under the posts allowing Mark Nichols’ a simple conversion. The Saints gained a foothold in the game and pressed the hosts hard for the next ten minutes. Frustrations were mounting amongst the visitors due to the staccato nature of the game and Wellington’s insistence on only having one match ball available and no ball boys on the far side of the ground. Despite the pressure Welly’s defence held firm and the Saints had to make do with a Shepherd penalty to make the score 12-3 at half time. Given the conditions the sides elected to head towards the warmth of the changing rooms for the half time team talks.

The referee delayed the start of the second half to allow a heavy downpour to run its’ course. The deluge meant there was standing water in some areas of the pitch as the conditions continued to worsen. When play resumed it was the Saints that took a leaf out of the Welly play book by churning through the phases. The home side defended stoically but were coughing up penalties with increasing alacrity as the pressure started to build. Seven penalties in the first 15 minutes of the half ensured the Saints were in the ascendancy but the decisions not to take the 3 points looked a bad one as the visitors could not find a way through. Despite several near misses, none closer than when hooker Jack Grigg surged to the line but was held up, the visitors’ could not break Welly’s resolve. The home side finally relieved the siege when two successive penalties gave them a line out in the Saints’ 22m. A well-executed lineout catch and drive nearly turned the tables on the visitors, but replacement flanker Tony Knight turned hero on for his Saints’ debut to prevent the ball being grounded. With so much heavy contact it was no surprise when tempers boiled over on the 66th minute. Welly lock Gosling saw red for the punch that started the brawl, while Saints’ flanker Rob Jeffs was sin-binned for his over enthusiastic policing of the incident. The Saints were back pressuring the home side and flanker Adam Kellow proved the catalyst for the breakthrough. Stealing the ball at the back of the lineout Kellow burst through the gap creating panic in the Welly ranks. Shepherd’s quick ball allowed centre Ian Venner to run at the dysfunctional home defence and score under the posts. Shepherd’s conversion put the Saints within touching distance with 9 minutes remains. Welly looked to have weathered both the hail storm and the flurry of Saints’ attacks until a penalty for holding on in the last minute. With nerves of steel Shepherd let fly from 35m to secure the precious 3 points and put the Saints in front for the first time. There was still time for more drama and the game nearly ended in complete farce. The Saints were awarded a penalty from the restart and a miscommunication with the Referee meant that the visitors thought time was up. The ball was run to touch but to Cornish consternation and Somersetonian delight the official awarded a lineout. In the confusion that followed the home side were awarded a penalty, but Nichols’ kick was short and this time the game did end when the ball was put into the stands.

A key victory on the road for a Saints’ squad showing six changes from the side that won at Bideford the previous week. The Saints now have a Cornish derby against Bude to look forward to and a chance to avenge November’s surprise defeat on the North Coast (Kick off 2:30pm, Tregorrick Park)

Match Stats:
St Austell: Rowe; Grigg; Martin; Pearce; McNally; Kellow; Nelson; Jeffs; Shepherd; Ashwin (Captain); Chenoweth; Earp; Venner; McCoan; Tank
Replacements: Taylor; Vian; Knight
St Austell:
Tries – Venner (71)
Cons – Shepherd
Pens – Shepherd
Drop Goal –

Wellington:
Tries – Gill (15); Gosling (26)
Cons – Nichols
Pens –
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Jeffs (66)
Wellington: None

Red Cards
St Austell: None
Wellington: Gosling (66)

Referee: Mr J Wallis (Somerset RRS)
Saints Man of the Match: