Saints let a vital match slip away from them at a windswept Tregorrick Park. Starting with a strong wind behind them St Austell had the majority of possession, but tried to run the ball, when kicking and chasing considering the conditions, seemed the better option. Drybrook, to their credit also tried to run the ball, however in the cold and blustery conditions handling was difficult, with the only real winner being the weather.

Saints forwards worked their way towards the Drybrook 22 and when their opponents were penalised for offside, up stepped scrum half Andy Ashwin to slot the penalty from 30 yards. The home side had chances to increase their lead, but good defence kept them out and as the half wore on Drybrook looked more and more dangerous, with 10 minutes of the first half remaining they took the lead with a brilliant try that went from one side of the pitch to the other, and with St Austell’s defence stretched, centre Simmons scored in the corner to put the visitors 5-3 up, a lead which they held on to until the half time mark.

With the elements against them in the second half Saints started in determined fashion and held onto possession for long periods, but just when they had Drybrook’s defence stretched, a stray pass or kick would allow them to regroup and keep the home team out. Even so, Saints were awarded two penalties close in and the reliable Ashwin kicked both to give the Saints a 9-5 lead. With 15 minutes to go, lock Rob Jeffs did well to charge down a Drybrook clearance and with no one near him just had to pick the ball up and dive over the line, but just as the crowd were cheering the try the ball spilled from his hands and the chance went begging.

Although St Austell were on top they could not kill the game off and it came back to haunt them with five minutes to go. A punt down field ended with St Austell being penalised 25 metres from their line and the visitor’s kicked to the corner, although St Austell kept them out first time they were penalised twice more and from the third lineout Drybrook managed to force their way over in the corner, leaving them leading at 10-9. With the hail falling Saints threw everything at the visiting line and had one last chance when they had a scrum five yards out, but when the ball was kicked out of the scrum, with it went Saints chances and the dejected home side left the field knowing that a relegation battle is looming.