By Paul Hayes at Astley Park

REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST (SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21)

Brixham 32 St Austell 25

THE Fishermen scored a last-gasp try to break Saints’ hearts in a Christmas cracker at Astley Park.

Both clubs play high-tempo, attacking rugby which saw the momentum swing one way and then the other, leaving the result in doubt right up to the final minute.

The game kicked off with the Saints playing up the slope into a strong gusting wind. Thrice the visitors went close before Mitch Pinkus’ penalty put Brixham ahead.

The hosts then began to stamp their authority on the game to score two tries in quick succession.

The first came after The Fishermen built up a head of steam to patiently stretch the Saints defence enabling flanker Jason Capaldi to score out wide (8-0).

Brixham’s next score was a tad fortuitous but underlined the importance of a determined kick chase. A wind-assisted clearance kick went from one 22 to the other, causing a slight hesitation in the home defence. This was compounded by a miscued kick providing easy pickings for winger Matt Crosscombe who had sprinted 60 metres.

The Saints were now 15-0 down in as many minutes and the home support were eagerly anticipating Brixham to rack up a big score.

But the visitors responded and one passage of play contained 21 phases. With the Brixham defence becoming increasingly desperate, the penalties started to rack up. Eventually the Saints elected for the scrum and a well-drilled blindside move was finished by winger George Tregilgas. Shepherd’s touchline conversion made it 15-7 with 31 minutes gone.

Pinkus and Shepherd then exchanged penalties to make the half-time score 18-10.

The Saints started to exert themselves in the third quarter and a Shepherd penalty on 50 minutes closed the gap (18-13). Hooker Pete Harris peeled off from a catch and drive to deliver a deserved try for the visitors to tie things up at 18-18.

Unfortunately, the Saints fluffed their lines at the restart when a misplaced pass turned a routine clearance to a moment of panic. Brixham’s chasers were again quickly on the scene to charge down the kick and score under the posts (25-18).

The Saints pack were now beginning to hold sway in the scrum and the maul, and another powerful drive had the Brixham forwards backpedalling at a rate of knots. Shepherd received the ball in space and cut back against the defensive grain to score in the corner. The fly-half’s superb touchline conversion made it all square with 15 minutes remaining (25-25).

The Saints went in search of the winning score and pounded away but just could not carve out a clear-cut opportunity. With two minutes remaining the visitors were left stunned when Brixham launched a superb flowing counter-attack off quick ball from a 40-metre lineout that was finished off by replacement Kai Kidd (32-25).

The Saints next game is at Tregorrick when Gloucester-based Matson visit on Saturday, January 4 (2.30pm).

ST AUSTELL: Archie Bees, George Tregilgas, Ben Plummer (co-captain), Sam Parsons, Arthur Fletcher, Matt Shepherd, Dan Tyrrell; Peter Rowe, Peter Harris, Matt Boothby, Tom Daniel, Mark Vian (co-captain), Rory Jago, Kaydan Michael, Adam Powell. Replacements: Ben Woodmansey, Hector Bright, Henry Blackshire.

Tries: Tregilgas, Harris, Shepherd; Convs: Shepherd (2); Pens: Shepherd (3).

St Austell man of the match: Matt Shepherd.