SALTASH headed to West Cornwall with confidence following their away result at Penryn just before Christmas, but after a promising first half period when they could have put points on the board, they never looked like doing the double over St Ives.

They had to make an early change when James Sutton went off injured and Lewis Wells reverted to the pack and Todd Crofts came off the bench into the centre.

The Ashes held the edge for the initial 30 minutes but were unable to cross the home line, and during a rare excursion into the Saltash 22, the Hakes scored an unconverted try through Fletcher Kelly on the right wing after 35 minutes.

Just before the interval another St Ives handling movement ended with a try by Bayley Rogers which was converted by Matty Turton giving them a lead of 12-0.

The second period started with the home side in control and a converted try by Sean Stevens after 53 minutes increased their lead which was never threatened by the disappointing Ashes efforts which were repelled by the quick covering St Ives defence.

A bonus-point try was scored by Stevens a few minutes before the final whistle in the fading light.

Although losing, there were good performances for Saltash by Tom Hoban and Liall Honey who worked hard in the pack, while Todd Crofts was lively when he came on at centre. Dylan Davies continues to improve at fly-half and Billy Dover was solid at full-back.

The Ashes host third-placed Kingsbridge on Saturday (2.30pm).

SALTASH: Billy Dover; Will Morton, Greg Eatwell, Lewis Wells, Lewis Stuart; Dylan Davies, Jack Pritchard; Ryan Simmons, Axel Nicks, Liall Honey; James Sutton, Thomas Hoban; Charlie Knight, Phil Eatwell, Lewis Woolaway. Replacements: Simon Nance, Todd Crofts, Scott Williams.