ST AUSTELL made it nine points on the road on successive Saturdays after seeing off Matson 41-19 in a bruising encounter in Gloucester.

The fixture was a tale of two contrasting styles with Matson looking to utilise their powerful forwards in the tight while the visitors were keen to play a more expansive running game. In the end it was the Saints rapier thrusts that overcame the Matson sledgehammer to score six tries.

The visitors seized the early initiative when hooker Peter Harris crashed over from short range. The home side struck back with their big pack providing the platform for full-back Jake Hanley to score and convert a try (7-5).

The Saints shifted through the gears in the final ten minutes of the half to score four tries. Centre Jamie Stanlake broke out of the 22 and found a willing runner in Archie Bees in support. He took play into the Matson half before passing inside to Matt Shepherd. The two flying wingers combined in complete harmony as they swapped passes to create the hole for Bees to finish in the corner (7-10).

Scrum-half Dan Tyrrell then seized upon a loose ball from a Matson line-out to rip through the defence to score under the posts (7-17).

The Saints were now in full flow, and a sweeping move saw full-back Ben Saunders enter the line and glide over (7-24). Not to be outdone, the forwards got in on the act with lock Tom Daniel charging through before offloading to flanker Hector Bright to complete the touchdown. Rory O’Kane kicked over his third conversion of the half to make the half-time score 31-7 in the Cornishmen’s favour.

Matson showed great grit and determination to hit back strongly after the break with two tries and a conversion to jangle the visitors’ nerves (19-31).

The Saints had to did deep to ensure the gap did not narrow any further and gradually they were to douse the hosts’ fire.

O’Kane steadied matters with a penalty on the hour mark, and the Saints were back on top in the final quarter.

It took determined home defence to limit the Saints to just one further converted try. A driving maul off a line-out travelled 15 metres before Bright claimed his second try of the day to make the final score 41-19.

The win made it a near perfect month for the Saints with 14 points out of a possible 15 secured during November.

A rich vein of form with just one defeat in seven games sees the Saints approach a challenging run of fixtures in December full of confidence.

They will face three of the top four teams in the league before Christmas, starting with one of the highlights of the season this Saturday when Brixham are the visitors to Tregorrick Park.

Games against the Fishermen have been entertaining and close-run affairs in recent seasons and this weekend is definitely one not to be missed (2.30pm).

ST AUSTELL: Saunders, Bees, Plummer (co-captain), Stanlake, Shepherd, O’Kane (Ashwin, 69), Tyrrell; Bennett (Raikes, 62), Harris, Nicholson; Vian (co-captain), T Daniel; Bright (Marriott, 50), Taylor, Powell (Bright, 60).

Tries: Harris, Bees, Tyrrell, Saunders, Bright (2); Convs: O’Kane (4); Pens: N/A.

Saints’ man-of-the-match: Tom Daniel.