Match Report: St Austell 41-27 Chew Valley

Chew Valley made the long trip to St Austell hoping to break their winless start to the season. The encouraging signs from their last outing against Brixham carried over to this match, but ultimately, errors and ill-discipline saw them fall short despite a bonus-point try late on.

The day started on a rare high with the team bus turning up when expected, and with sunny but mild weather greeting the players in Cornwall. St Austell came into the game off the back of impressive wins against Matson and Brixham, while Chew Valley were still hunting for their first win of the season. The lineup saw some changes, with Alex Monk stepping into the second row and Freddie Patch slotting in at scrum-half. A reshuffled backline also saw Joe Cowell back in the centres and Harry Stride at fullback.

Chew Valley kicked off the game, and despite a scrappy opening with missed touch kicks, knock-ons, and penalties, they eventually found their feet. After a missed penalty from St Austell in the 11th minute, Chew started to build momentum. A series of phases, with contributions from several Brookers, led to a powerful finish by Daniel Brooker, who crashed over for the opening try. Brooker dusted himself down and converted his own try to make it 0-7.

Just minutes later, St Austell’s ill-discipline saw them reduced to 14 men, and Chew took full advantage. A wide move off the scrum saw Taylor Thatcher score in the corner, extending the lead to 0-14. However, soon after Rashy found himself in the bin for not rolling away, leaving Chew temporarily down a man.

St Austell struggled with discipline as well, losing another player to the bin after infringing on a Patch break, and things took a physical toll with their number 6 departing injured. Still, the hosts struck back just before halftime with a try of their own in the 37th minute, narrowing the gap to 7-14.

The closing stages of the first half turned into a frantic affair. A promising Chew attack was halted by a forward pass, and deep into injury time, St Austell’s scrum-half darted through for a try from 30 metres out. Just when it seemed Chew would head into the break behind, Daniel Brooker powered over for his second try to reclaim the lead, 12-19 at the half.

The second half couldn’t have started much worse for Chew Valley. Just two minutes in, Dean Brooker was carded, and St Austell capitalised from the resulting lineout, crossing over for a try to bring the score to 17-19.

Chew responded well with a penalty from Daniel Brooker, extending their lead to 17-22, but the game started to swing. A thrilling break from Freddie Patch was undone by a turnover, and in the counter-attack, only Taylor Thatcher’s defensive efforts prevented St Austell from scoring.

Substitutions followed for Chew, but the game was starting to unravel. A loose bounce pass in midfield held the defence and allowed St Austell to score in the corner to level things at 22-22. Then, a Chew penalty was reversed, and Daniel Brooker was sent to the bin, leaving Chew down a man yet again. St Austell pounced on the opportunity, scoring to take the lead for the first time in the match, 29-22.

Chew’s hopes of a comeback were dashed as St Austell scored again in the 74th minute to extend the gap to 36-22. Tempers flared as the game neared its conclusion, with some pushing and shoving resulting in yellow cards for both sides, including Dean Brooker’s second.

In the dying moments, St Austell crossed over once more to make it 41-22, but Daniel Brooker muscled his way over for his third try of the game in the 85th minute and secured a bonus point for Chew, ending the match 41-27 in favour of the Cornish side.

Chew Valley will be disappointed to have let a strong position slip away in the second half. Costly penalties and lapses in concentration allowed St Austell back into the game, and the ill-discipline that saw multiple players carded ultimately proved fatal to their chances. The bonus point is a consolation, but Chew Valley will need to regroup ahead of next week's trip to face high-flying Exmouth.