By Paul Hayes at the Imperial Ground, Exmouth
REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST
Exmouth 34 St Austell 21
THE Saints fell to just a third defeat in nine games as Exmouth tightened their grip on third with a 34-21 victory in East Devon.
It was an evenly matched and intriguing contest on a difficult pitch, but the Cockles showed a ruthless streak to take their opportunities to leave the visitors chasing the game.
The Saints had the edge in the second period but were denied the bonus point their efforts deserved.
A cagey opening quarter saw play locked between the two 22s with both defences cancelling each other out.
It needed something special to find an opening and Exmouth found it with a clever cross field kick to the winger hugging the touch line to score in the corner. George Meadows added the kick for 7-0.
Play swung each way but the Cockles increased their lead when their superb full-back Fin Marks exploited some slack tackling on halfway to use his pace to stretch away from the Cornish defence (14-0).
The Saints responded well and looked on track to score from a catch and drive when the maul fragmented, allowing Exmouth to jackal the ball and earn a penalty.
The visitors were then punished when Marks again joined the line at speed to burst through the defence. This time he offloaded to the winger, and although the pass was forward it was easily missed given the velocity of the attack (21-0).
The Saints finished the half strongly to mount another wave of attacks and Exmouth were having to notch up the penalties to keep them out as half-time loomed. After three red-zone infringements in quick succession, Cockles lock Liam Bayley was sent to the sinbin and a tap penalty allowed flanker Rory Jago to stretch over. Matt Shepherd's conversion was right on the whistle (21-7).
The Saints really needed to score first but got off to the worst possible start to the second half with Exmouth scoring within a minute after reacting quicker to a scuffed kick off. The ball barely reached the mandatory 10 metres allowing Marks to accelerate away before passing to the hard-running centre Nick Headley (26-5).
The visitors bounced back with teenage winger Arthur Fletcher showing great strength to finish a sweeping move to score his first Saints try (26-14).
The Saints were now on top putting the home side under pressure but were caught flatfooted by a counterattack (31-14).
Exmouth extended their lead with a long-range penalty to give the scoreboard an unflattering view at 34-14.
Undeterred, the Saints continued to press and again forced Exmouth into determined defence and home hooker Charles Gibbings was shown a yellow card after blocking a Saints runner.
The visitors were not to be denied with replacement prop Matt Trahair finishing a catch and drive from the resulting penalty (34-21).
The Saints pounded away in the final minutes but just could not get over for a fourth try that would have given them a deserved bonus point.
Despite the loss there were many positives.
Will Tanswell had an excellent debut at scrum-half, youngsters Arthur Fletcher and Henry Blackshire clocked on more Level Five minutes and Matt Trahair brought his Sinners try scoring prowess to the Saints.
The Saints have this weekend off before Royal Wootton Bassett this Tregorrick Park for the first time on February 15 (2.30pm).
ST AUSTELL: Matt Shepherd, Peter Tuckley, Ben Plummer (co-capt), Sam Parsons, Arthur Fletcher, Chris Ashwin, Will Tanswell; Peter Rowe, Peter Harris, Ben Woodmansey, Tom Daniel, Mark Vian (co-capt), Rory Jago, Kaydan Michael, Adam Powell. Replacements: Matt Trahair, Henry Blackshire, George Tregilgas.