St Austell demolished Old Patesians to take spot in South West One West and in doing so, Kyle Marriott’s men racked up a fifth consecutive league triumph.

In front of another bumper Tregorrick Park crowd, Saints never got out of second gear against an outclassed, but spirited Old Pats outfit, who after this latest loss, remain second bottom in the standings. Despite their stroll, Saints were clinical when it mattered and leading 28-0 at half-time with the bonus-point and victory tied up, the hosts can be excused for putting their collective cues in the rack.

The game then descended into something of a scrappy affair in the second stanza and despite Old Patesians enjoying more of the ball and time in St Austell’s red-zone, Marriott’s men held firm and added two further tries to ease to victory.

The home side made two changes from the side that were 40-17 winners at North Petherton seven days previously and both came in the pack. Up front, Hugh Noott dropped to the bench with his place taken by the returning Charlie Nicholson while in the back-row, Andy Inch in his 100th senior match, came in for Tom Daniels.

For Old Pats, who have moved sideways from South West One East for 2021-22, they made the long trip from their Cheltenham base still searching for a first win of the campaign. Despite languishing in the lower reaches of the South West One West standings with five defeats from as many games, Old Pats had been much improved in previous weeks with narrow reverses against Wellington (24-21) and last time out on home soil to Sidmouth (13-18).

Saints were led out by centurion Inch, followed by skipper Miles Davey, who during his University days, had turned out for Old Pats.

The visitors must have wished that Davey was still in their ranks as after seven minutes, his opposite number and skipper of the Gloucestershire outfit Max Folkard completely butchered a line-out which gifted St Austell possession. Folkard was made to pay for his erroneous throw as the ball was spread wide for Konnor Ewudzi to streak home out wide. Matt Shepherd, who along with Ewudzi was outstanding throughout, kicked a magnificent conversion and the St Austell rout was underway.

Just five minutes later and Saints were in again with their second score, demonstrating the multi-faceted nature of their play that Marriott has yearned for. Old Pats shipped a penalty and Shepherd kicked to the corner with towering lock Mark Vian securing the ball. Saints rumbled to the line and after the maul came down, more slick-handling saw Fraser Nottle cross the whitewash. Once again, Shepherd made no mistake from the touchline and at 14-0 up, the hosts had built a commanding early lead.

Credit to the visitors, though, as they dug in well and they kept Saints out until the 28th minute when full-back Cav Boyer scored the try of the game with a set move straight off the training ground. A scrum in midfield saw the ball worked to Boyer, chiming into the three-quarter line, and he then duly turned on the afterburners to score. Once again, Shepherd booted over the extras with minimal fuss.

The bonus-point was secured shortly after Boyer’s champagne score when Inch burst through some powder-puff visiting defence and after he found Edwudzi, Saints’ man-of-the-match did the rest for another converted try.

Shepherd, who was once again imperious for Saints at fly-half, then demonstrated that he is human after all when the Cornwall county hero bombed a certain fifth try when he fumbled over the line. Merry whistle blower Simon Bingham then signalled for the interval and Saints knew deep down that they were home and hosed.

Initially, though, the hosts went for the jugular in the second stanza and Shepherd thought he had scored a dazzling individual try, only to be denied by Bingham’s whistle for failing to ground the ball before it went dead.

Nottle then matched the endeavours of Ewudzi by bagging his second of the afternoon after 56 minutes as another scintillating set-piece move cut the Old Pats rear-guard to pieces. Shepherd surprisingly missed the conversion, arguably his most routine of the afternoon, but Saints had pushed the score over the 30-point mark.
But for all their breathtakingly brilliant backs play, an equally impressive part to Saints’ game saw Old Pats kept to zero on the scoreboard and for a spell just after the hour mark, it looked certain that they would breach the hosts’ defensive line. However, Saints kept them out and fittingly, Shepherd had the final say when his individual brilliance to break free in midfield and draw full-back Finn Mellis resulted in a sixth home try.

During the standard post-match exchanges between both teams, news filtered through that previously unbeaten Devonport Services had lost their 100 per cent record with a 18-17 loss at Devon rivals Crediton. The Services’ barest of all margins reverse, coupled with previous leaders Chew Valley failing to pick up a try bonus in defeating Keynsham 28-25 meant Saints were new league leaders.

It could only be a brief stay at the summit with St Austell taking a break this coming Saturday due to Stroud’s pre-season demise. However, if Marriott’s charges continue their rich vein of form, it surely won’t be the only time this season that they look down on the rest.

Saints: Boyer, Nottle, Ewudzi (Boyce, 72), Plummer, Bullen, Shepherd, Boyce (D Tyrell, 60); Job (Nicholson, 66), Davey, Nicholson (Noott, 55), Knight, Vian, Jago, Inch, Marriott (Taylor,40).

Old Patesians: Mellis, Simpson, Sanderson, Town, Churchill, Hathaway, Calvert; Hart, Folkard, T Allen, Evans, McIntosh, Jewell, Long (Kingscott, 66), J Allen. Replacements not used: Dinwiddy, Dillon.

Referee: Simon Bingham.