By Gareth Davies - Cornwall Sports Media

Without a win since defeating Crediton 36-8 on December 11, Saints had slipped to fourth in the table. Was their title challenge starting to fade?

The answer was an overwhelming no after a pulsating 80 minutes in front of another bumper Tregorrick Park crowd. Quite simply, Saints’ talented back division was just too good for the Oaks.

But St Austell didn’t have things their own way and fell behind when the Somerset visitors scored first through Dominik Griffin. However, Saints were soon in their stride and scores from Matt Shepherd, Fraser Nottle and Ben Plummer had Kyle Marriott’s men 21-5 ahead after 40 minutes.

The second stanza saw Saints’ dominance continue and the Pethy rear guard was breached three further times as Shepherd doubled his tally, along with tries from Konnor Ewudzi and the returning Chris Ashwin.
Pethy themselves also grabbed a second score of their own when flanker Ben Ellis crossed the whitewash, but that was a mere consolation such was Saints’ dominance.

After defeat at Newent last time out, Saints made five changes from the side that were beaten in Gloucestershire. A completely new front row saw Brandon Haque, Miles Davey and Charlie Nicholson come in for Dan Job, Hugh Noott and Jack Grigg.

Noott was named as a replacement while Davey was available once more after he was forced to miss the Newent match at the eleventh-hour. He also captained the side after Andy Inch stepped into the breach seven days previous.

Inch himself didn’t make Saints’ matchday squad for the visit of lowly Pethy and was replaced in the back-row by Adam Kellow. Further pack changes saw Zach Morley make his full debut as Rory Jago dropped to the bench.

Behind the scrum, Ashwin returned for the first time since the opening day loss at Devonport Services as Shepherd moved from fly-half to full-back. Cavan Boyer, who donned the number 15 jumper at Newent, took his place amongst the finishers.

Like Saints, North Petherton came into the match on the back of two successive defeats and in their last game against Sidmouth, they were defeated 21-14 at Beggars Brook.

This left the Somerset outfit, coached by Jake Caulfield, brother of former Exeter Chiefs and current Cornish Pirates star Josh, still struggling at the wrong end of the table.

And despite their lowly position, the opening 20 minutes belonged to Pethy as after an impeccably observed minute’s silence in memory of Tregorrick stalwart Reg ‘Apples’ Roberts, who passed away recently, they forced Saints into shipping several penalties when in range. Whilst with ball in hand, Caulfield’s troops looked dangerous out wide.

Just shy of the 15-minute mark, Ewudzi almost created the first clear cut opportunity of the afternoon but the ball hit the deck and Pethy were awarded a scrum. From this set-piece, the visitors spun the ball wide and the impressive Henry Gliddon moved his side into Saints’ red-zone. A series of close phases followed before the ball was shifted well from left to right and fly-half Griffin was on hand to dot down. Jack Rees then missed the conversion but Pethy were up and running.

Falling behind seemed to be just the tonic Saints needed as less than five minutes after Griffin’s opener, the hosts clicked into gear with devastating effect. A scrum deep in Saints territory saw Ashwin’s long raking pass find the onrushing Shepherd who after cutting a brilliant line, fed the overlapping Nottle. With the Pethy cover defence closing in, Nottle then fed the supporting Shepherd who did the rest and then converted his own score.

Ahead 7-5, Saints then scored one of the greatest Tregorrick Park tries seen in recent times due in no small part to an outrageous piece of skill from Tony Knight.The workhorse second-row broke clear and charged up field but faced with an onrushing Pethy defender, instead of trying to bulldoze his way through, Knight delivered a wonderful out the back door flick pass to Plummer who was away. Rugby fans with long memories might remember a similar scenario occurring in the 2015 Rugby World Cup during a game between New Zealand and France in Cardiff.

Knight certainly channeled his inner Dan Carter with the pass and Julian Savea’s part in St Austell’s replication of the All Blacks’ mastery was executed perfectly by Plummer. Once again, Pethy covered well but Saints’ support play came to the fore as Nottle was on hand to back up Plummer - the former crossing the line with his trademark splash. Shepherd added the extras and the pendulum had swung Saints’ way.
And just before the half time interval, Saints really put themselves in the driving seat with a perfectly executed set move. Shepherd kicked a penalty deep into Pethy territory and from the resulting line-out, Davey found Marriott at the tail and he peeled off to find Plummer on his shoulder. The Saints centre burst through the Pethy line to score under the sticks. Shepherd converted again and Saints were 21-5 ahead.
After a quick turnaround it was Pethy who had the first chance of points in the second stanza when the away side were handed a penalty just outside Saints’ 22. Surprisingly, though, Rees fluffed his lines from the tee and missed the mark.

Normal service for Saints was resumed shorty after when the bonus-point score was secured as Ewudzi powered free and with Shepherd chiming into the three-quarter line, the former Plymouth Albion playmaker bagged his second of the afternoon. He also kicked his fourth conversion.

Saints were rampant at this point and Ewudzi himself then got himself on the scoreboard after a barnstorming run which ended with the merry whistle blower awarding a try out wide. Shepherd proved that he is human after all and missed a tricky attempt at adding two further points but Saints were now over the 30-point mark. Pethy did manage to stem the tide of Saints momentum although this was perhaps more to do with the game descending into a something of a stop-start affair due to injuries suffered on both sides. And the visitors, who were plucky if nothing else during the second period, did score again through Ellis in the Duporth corner. But back came Saints again and a quick tap penalty from CJ Boyce found Ashwin and he coasted home through a tiring Pethy defensive line for another try which was converted by Shepherd. The last 15 minutes saw Saints forced into further substitutions with Ewudzi forced off with an ankle problem while Nottle took a knock to his shoulder. Morley was moved to the wing as the previously substituted Knight and Alex Welland both returned to the fray.
Despite the game being played in a tough but fair manner throughout, tempers from North Petherton frayed as time ticked down. Winger Gliddon somehow escaped punishment for swinging a punch at Welland that thankfully missed the mark. Pethy had already been awarded a scrum before the melee and the referee didn’t reverse his decision.

After a successful Pethy set-piece, the ball found its way into Gliddon’s hands and he was met with a ferocious legal hit from Shepherd which saw the Pethy flyer dumped into touch, to huge ironic cheers from the Tregorrick faithful. As the clock ticked into the red, five minutes of added time passed without further incident and when the final whistle arrived, Saints knew that their season was firmly back on track. Coupled with results elsewhere which saw Chew Valley defeat Devonport and Lydney edge out Thornbury by the barest of all margins, Saints are back to where they were at the start of 2022 – looking down on the rest.

Tribute South West One West
St Austell (21) 40
Tries: Shepherd (2), Nottle, Plummer, Ewudzi, Ashwin. Cons: Shepherd (5)
North Petherton (5) 10
Tries: Griffin, Ellis

Saints: Shepherd, Nottle, Ewudzi, Plummer, Plummer, Ashwin, Boyce; Haque, Davey, Nicholson, Knight, Vian, Kellow, Morley, Marriott. Replacements: Noott, Jago, Boyer.

North Petherton: Rees, Gliddon, Griffen, Gallagher, Stevens, Griffin, Connybere; Morgan, Williams, Villis, Caulfield, Games-Thomas, Ellis, Taylor, Coles. Replacements: Perkins, Setter, Needham.