Reported on by Steve Murley

The Saints travelled to old friends and rivals Wellington, returning with 5 points in a performance under-pinned by a strong defensive display.

Having won the toss, Welly kicked off the first half with the Saints playing up the slope, towards the Clubhouse corner. A high-tempo start, with both sides conceding penalties, saw Shepherd kick to the corner, where a well-rehearsed lineout catch-and-drive routine with Mark Vian soaring highest, saw Saints Skipper Miles Davey touch down for the first points of the game.

( 3 minutes : Wellington 0 - Saints 5 )

After a period of mid-field action, Welly laid siege to the Saints line. Wave after wave of attacks were repulsed and driven back, both from open play and their driving lineout. With the Back Row of Rory Jago, Andy Inch and Kyle Marriott prominent in the forward exchanges, and Ben Plummer and Konor Ewudzi tying up the midfield, Welly decided to ensure that they took some points for their efforts and following a Saints infringement in front of the posts, Davey stepped up to slot the penalty.

( 12 minutes : Wellington 3 - Saints 5 )

The Saints responded immediately, winning back the restart and with a penalty of their own, kicked to the corner. Once again the Saints caught and drove, this time well defended by Welly who forced it in-field. Saints retained possession and following a couple of phases of driving play, saw live wire Saints Fly-Half, Shepherd spot a gap and force his way over from close range. The kick was surprisingly missed.

( 17 minutes : Wellington 3 - Saints 10 )

With starting debut Winger George Hutchinson making inroads and CJ Boyce challenging around the fringes, Saints were posing problems. Welly, however, are a tough nut to crack and rallied around to once more force their way into Saints territory. The Saints defence acting as a very impressive unit, responded to snuff out the attacks that came their way. Finally, following a penalty for offside at the tackle line, Welly kicked the 3.

( 35 minutes : Wellington 6 - Saints 10 )

Sniffing more points, Welly, once again threw themselves at the Saints line. Lineouts, drives from mauls and wider play were all repulsed by a stubborn and determined Saints side and with the final kick of the half, Davey slotted his 3rd penalty to reduce the gap to just 1 point.

( 39 minutes : Wellington 9 - Saints 10 )

At half-time with Welly having clawed their way back into the game, the winner looked hard to predict. The first few minutes of the half were fought out mostly in midfield, but gradually Saints began to enjoy greater field position.

After 47 minutes, Tony Knight, who carried well and was prominent in forward exchanges, gave way to Cam Taylor. Saints pushed even more for the next score, spreading the ball wide to Frazer Nottle who was well tackled by the covering defence.

Shepherd kicked a magnificent wind-assisted '50-22' and with the lineout well won, the Saints retained possession through several phases before loose head prop Dan Job led the charge over the line. Shepherd added the extras.

( 53 minutes : Wellington 9 - Saints 17 )

Welly are nothing if not resilient, and once again came back at the Saints. With some great sleight of hand in midfield, and looking to move the ball wider. Saints once again upped their defensive game and repelled all of their efforts.

Kyle Gallagher replaced Charlie Nicholson after 60 minutes but it was a short lived cameo as the substitution was reversed after 8 minutes following an unfortunate leg injury to Kyle.

With both sides working hard and defences on top, the game was mainly being played in the centre of the field. The Saints were, however, hunting the try bonus point and in the 70th minute it was talisman Matt Shepherd who once again forced his way over the line, to leave the Saints 9-22 in front

( 70 minutes : Wellington 9 - Saints 22 )

Zach Morley came off the bench for his debut, replacing Rory Jago, and almost opened his try scoring account when he followed up a sparkling break by Frazer Nottle who threw an inside pass to the supporting Morley, who was just held up.

The game ended with high drama as the Welly side roused themselves for one last monumental effort at breaching the Saints defence. For 5 minutes they threw everything at the Saints line in front of their passionate supporters at the Clubhouse end. With time running out and the game and bonus point secure, it would have been easy to concede but this team are made of sterner stuff. With everyone concentrating and contributing, the ball squeezed out the side of a Welly ruck just shy of the line for a gleeful Shepherd to scoop up and kick to touch and end the game.

It was not a classic, but a great example of two skillful and totally committed sides going head-to-head, determined to deliver their best games. Welly are never an easy side to beat and the Saints can be delighted to return home to Cornwall with 5 points and their try-line still intact.

Saints have extended their lead at the top of the table to 3 points and don’t play again until 20th November when they travel to Thornbury for their 3rd away game in a row. Other sides play on the 6th November but this is when we were down to play Stroud and so a free Saturday for the lads.

Full Time : Wellington 9 - Saints 22