St Austell 36

Bude 24

IT?PROVED?to be a case of too little too late for Bude as they fell to yet another away defeat to St Austell in the Western Counties League at Tregorrick Park last Saturday.

Despite failing to gain a win away from home this term, the North Cornwall club were much more competitive than on previous away trips and will be confident of sneaking a victory on the road between now and the end of the season at one of their relegation rivals.

Having beaten Sidmouth in a forward-dominated clash at Bencoolen Meadow last weekend, Bude competed well for the first half an hour as both teams registered a converted try and a penalty.

Goalkicker Liam Freeman crossed for the Saints while Tully Innes was on the scoresheet for the visitors. Bude’s try and penalty were converted by Dan Pearce.

At 10-10 with just ten minutes of the first-half remaining, Bude would have been confident of getting through to half-time unscathed.

However, further tries from Ben Chenoweth and Shane Johns before the interval extended the lead to 14 points.

Sensing a big chance to kill the game, St Austell rammed home their advantage through scrum-half Dan Jane and George Knowles shortly after the restart.

Freeman converted the first of those to make it 16 points for the afternoon.

With the match now effectively over as a contest, it would have been easy for Bude to throw the towel in.

But with vital bonus points on offer, Bude were determined to score three further tries.

Inspired by the strength of their forwards, the visitors continued to push forward and were rewarded when Andy Yates and Ed Cook barged their way over.

Dan Pearce again converted to make it 36-24.

Needing just one more try for a bonus point, Bude continued to plough forward but in the end were denied by the hosts who move up to eighth.

Bude remain second from bottom, either side of Wellington and basement boys Crediton. All three teams are on 23 points, four behind Burnham-on-Sea.

Bude’s bid for survival continues on Saturday with a winnable clash with Tiverton at Bencoolen Meadow.

Tiverton arrive on the North Cornwall coast, with seven wins and ten losses to their name, while all of the Bude’s five victories have been registered at home.

St Austell

Tries: Freeman, Chenoweth, Johns, Jane, Knowles

Convs: Freeman 4

Pen: Freeman

Bude

Tries: Innes, Yates, Cook

Convs: Pearce 3

Pen: Pearce