It was a day of celebration off the field with a special lunch for the “Original Saints” from the first ever St Austell RFC squad of 1963-64 and the naming of the “Geoff Allen Stand” in memory of one the Club’s founding father. However it was a more sober display on the pitch where the Saints put on one of their worst performances of the season. That they dug deep to hold on for a victory speaks volumes about the character and resilience in the side because make no mistake Clevedon went very close to sealing a win to boost their fight against relegation.

The Saints had first use of a stiff south-easterly wind blowing the length of the field but got off to a very sluggish start. Clevedon soon took full advantage of the Saints’ lethargy when lock Will Cooper made a massive dent in the home defence after a surging run. A neat offload found teenage flanker Chris Warren and the Colts’ captain finished off in style under the posts. Centre Mike Taylor stroked over the conversion to put the visitors 7-0 in front. The score stirred the home side into life and a penalty was drilled deep into the Clevedon 22 to set up a line out routine for prop Hugh Noott to crash over. Dan Pearce’s conversion evened up the scores and the full back was instrumental in the Saints’ next try with a powerful incursion into backline. His trademark jinking run was followed by a perfectly timed draw and pass to set up winger Ben Chenoweth to touchdown. Pearce’s conversion put the home side 14-7 in front and with the home side now looking more fluid many of the large Tregorrick crowd would have been forgiven for thinking more was to come. Clevedon had other ideas and sensibly focused on denying the home side ball and on slowing the game down. As frustrations rose Mike Taylor was able to close the gap to 14-10 with a 35m penalty after a Saints offside. The home side huffed and puffed but with the number of handling errors chalking up the Saints were unable to establish any prolonged possession of the ball. It took a moment of inspiration from Adam Kellow right on half time to get the crowd on their feet. The number 8 spotted that Clevedon had over committed defenders to the breakdown after a series of drives and his cross field kick was scooped up by winger Ashley Taylor to put the home side 19-10 up at the break.

Saints made a dynamic start to the second half that saw Ashley Taylor twice go close to grabbing the all-important fourth try. The winger was just unable to gather the ball following a kick and chase and then was denied by a foot in touch as he bore down on the try line. The early fire started to diminish and it was Clevedon who scored with a well struck penalty from Mike Taylor. Home skipper Matt Shepherd replied in kind for the Saints to make the score 22-13 but the visitors were now playing with increasing confidence. After a period of prolonged pressure in the home 22 Clevedon winger Nick George finished off a fine blindside move to close the gap to just 4 points. The visitors were now dominating possession and twice the Saints had to be grateful to brave defending from Paul Winterbottom and hooker Miles Davey to prevent further scores. The final whistle brought relief around Tregorrick that the promotion dream remains alive after a hard earned 22-18 win.

The Saints will need to regroup this week, injuries are mounting after a long hard season and Clevedon proved you cannot take any team in SW1 West lightly. The visitors utilised the wind far better than the Saints and were able to box the home side in for long periods in the second half. That said the Saints had a “bad day at the office” and taking a cliché from the round ball game it is a mark of a good side to play badly and still win.

The promotion run is still wide open, Hornets are now in pole position and other than a seismic loss of form should clinch top spot. Second position provides a route to the Nationals via a play off and there are five teams battling for it. Provided the Saints win both their remaining games only Chard, who travel to Clevedon next week, can catch them. Never will there have been so much Cornish interest in a Somerset derby! The Saints of course have to do their bit first and grab a win in Gloucester when they meet Coney Hill.

Match Stats:

St Austell: Noott; Davey; Rowe; Pearce (A); Vian; Grigg; Winterbottom; Kellow; Shepherd (Captain); Ashwin; Chenoweth; Welland; Wilson; Taylor; Pearce (D)

Replacements: Pill; Tank; Venner

St Austell:
Tries – Ben Chenoweth (9); Hugh Noott (14); Ashley Taylor (39)
Cons – Dan Pearce (9, 14)
Pens – Matt Shepherd (54)
Drop Goal –

Clevedon:
Tries – Chris Warren (6); Nick George (60)
Cons – Mike Taylor (6)
Pens – Mike Taylor (20, 51)
Drop Goal –

Yellow Cards:
St Austell: Paul Winterbottom (23); Ian Venner (70)
Clevedon: None

Red Cards:
St Austell: None
Clevedon: None

Referee: Adam Wookey (Dorset & Wilts Society)

Saints Man of the Match: Miles Davey