By Gareth Davies

Tribute South West One West

St Austell (17) 36

Shepherd (2), Welland (2), Nicholson, Ewudzi. Cons: Shepherd (3).

Crediton (8) 8

Try: Mingo. Pen: Avery-Wright.

St Austell climbed to the South West One West summit with a steely and determined six-try win over Crediton at Tregorrick Park.

The Devonians were without doubt Saints’ toughest test on home soil this term, but Kyle Marriott’s men showed that when the pressure is on, they look resolute in defence.

On several occasions during a bruising encounter, with no quarter given by either side, Saints repelled Creddy with the visitors camped in the hosts’ 22.

But the excellent defensive showing aside, it was at the other end where St Austell once again laid bare their title credentials with a display of devastating finishing.

The outstanding Matt Shepherd pinched two tries tapping quick penalties while Saints’ influential playmaker kicked neatly behind for the first of Alex Welland’s two scores.

Showing that they have grunt up front along with a potent attacking backline, Charlie Nicholson finished off a fine driving maul in the first half and at that point, Saints led 17-0.

Crediton responded well to Saints’ whirlwind start and Luke Mingo got the men from Exhibition Road on the board. Ollie Avery-Wright’s routine penalty cut the lead further in first half injury-time and at this point, Saints knew they were in a real dog fight.

However, after the break, with Welland, Shepherd and Konnor Ewudzi all crossing, Saints overpowered Crediton and their victory sees Marriott and his troops sitting pretty at the top.

The home side came into their final home match before the festive break in high spirits. Last time out, they travelled to fellow promotion hopefuls Chew Valley and came away with a 19-6 victory.

Saints made just one change from the side that safely came back down the M5 with victory as teenager Archie Bees replaced Cavan Boyer at full-back. Bees, who has made two substitute appearances for the first team this season, was promoted from the bench with his place amongst the replacements taken by Danny Tyrell.

For Crediton, they themselves made the trip over the Tamar in fine form after consecutive wins over local rivals Sidmouth, Old Patesians and North Petherton respectively.

Despite the wet conditions, a bumper pre-Christmas crowd packed into the Tregorrick Park grandstand and they saw the home side go ahead after just four minutes. Saints rumbled forward into Creddy territory and after merry whistle blower George Berry had penalised the visitors, Shepherd then caught them napping by tapping quickly to go over.

Uncharacteristically, Shepherd missed the conversion but he atoned for that miss to lay on Saints’ second score for Alex Welland. With Crediton trying to keep the game tight to bring their giant forward pack into play, Shepherd’s delightful reverse grubber kick caught the visitors flat footed and Welland did the rest in the Ruck and Maul bar corner.

Crediton then had a concerted spell of pressure on Saints’ line but led by Marriott, playing against the club where his rugby career started, the home line wasn’t breached. A number of excellent defensive sets gave Saints a boost and after 24 minutes, they were on the board again.

Referee Berry pinged Creddy for offside on halfway and a booming Shepherd penalty put Saints in range. Lock Tony Knight gathered Miles Davey’s throw and Saints’ driving maul gathered momentum. Crediton had no answer and Nicholson was the man to eventually dot down with Shepherd converting.

Once again, though, Crediton came back at Saints hard and after a series of punishing drives close to the home line, they eventually went over through Mingo with Avery-Wright missing the conversion. Momentum was now with the visitors and they hammered away for a second try as the clock ticked towards the 40-minute mark. Saints held firm and eventually, Crediton decided to take three points and Avery-Wright kicked a straightforward penalty.

The opening 10 minutes of the second half were a real cat and mouse affair with both teams knowing that the next score would be vital in deciding the overall outcome. That decisive try finally arrived on 51 minutes with Saints securing the bonus point, albeit in slightly fortunate circumstances.

Chancing their arm in midfield, Crediton spun the ball wide but it went to ground. Ewudzi, who had a quiet game by his high standards, pounced like a vulture who had been witing patiently for his prey, to hack forward twice. Showing the Crediton rear guard a clean play of heels, Ewudzi then touched down in the Duporth corner although only just. Shepherd kicked a magnificent touchline conversion and from that point onwards, it felt like Saints had the win sewn up.

With 20 minutes left, Saints scored the try of the match with a devastating set-piece move from 40 metres out. The home eight ensured CJ Boyce had a perfect platform to execute a devastating counter with the backs doing the rest. Boyce fed Shepherd and with Ewudzi running a magnificent line, he fed Welland who did the rest. It was a stunning score that would have cut any defence in this division to shreds and there was no way back for Crediton.

They kept plugging away and after Shepherd somehow ripped the ball on his own line, Saints launched another counter which saw replacement Tyrell pin his ears back and with the hospital corner in sight, he was unfortunately bundled into touch.

But Saints weren’t done and with five minutes to go, they scored a sixth try. Once again Shepherd exploited a sluggish Crediton defence to dart over from a tap penalty to finish the game the way it started.

Saints: Bees, Nottle, Ewudzi, Plummer, Welland, Shepherd, Boyce; Job, Davey, Nicholson, Knight, Vian, Kellow, Jago, Marriott. Replacements: Boothby, Taylor, Tyrell.

Crediton: Davey, Woodland, Hosegood, Wonnacott, Saunders, Avery-Wright, Castleton; Palmer, Yendell, Gavin, Mingo, Goodman, Mortimer, Clarke, Courier. Replacements: Luxmore, Pearce, Braunton.

Referee: George Berry