Helston Colts 8, St Austell 0
Helston completed the Cornwall Colts League and Cup double with this victory at Wadebridge
against season-long rivals St Austell on Friday night.
Helston were playing into a strong wind for the first half and to add to tricky conditions the heavens
opened.
St Austell kicked off and it was prop Josh Berryman who took the ball in hand. Head down he
ploughed through the sea of red with hooker Dan Woodley and 2nd Row Adam Christophers adding
momentum to the drive. With quick ball from the ensuing ruck, scrum half Dan Duval got Helston’s
backs moving up field.
What was very quickly evident was that both defences were difficult to break down and some
ferocious tackling by St Austell stopped centre, Wade Toy close to the “reds” 22, here they managed
to force the turnover from the resulting maul.
Helston forwards were under pressure from a powerful St Austell unit and this platform
gave the St Austell half backs time to clear with an up-field kick. This time the ball was collected by
centre Tom Hawken who had an excellent evening with some very powerful running in the midfield..
Skilfully picking the ball from the mud he turned and with head down bulldozed his way through
three St Austell forwards before being taken to ground. The Helston pack looked hungry and
Christophers with support from Jonny Vincent and Jordi Hoskin ploughed over the top to secure the
ball. Helston spun it out to Flyhalf Matt Blee and with his party piece “show and go” he threaded his
way past his opposite number. A kick to the corner gave Helston some good territory to build the
pressure.
St Austell again kicking long put the ball back to the half way line. Their backs gave chase and pinned
Bradley down, under huge pressure from the chasers Bradley did well to “fight the ground” giving
time for his support to arrive, great technique by Toy and Richards showed the importance of backs
as well as forwards being confident in the contact and the breakdown. They gave the forwards just
enough time to retreat and Berryman took the ball on for the first phase and with his front row
brethren in close support they powered up the middle with red
shirts just hanging on. No8 Vincent continued the driving play. Nerves were obviously getting to both
sides and another unlucky knock on let Saints off the hook again with the scrum awarded to St
Austell they threaded the ball along their large line to their winger.
Helston were playing all the rugby but unfortunately whether it was the conditions or the nerves
they were struggling to convert this into points. Having won a penalty inside the St Austell 22 they
strangely opted for a tap and go to try for a score. After a couple of phases it was Berryman who
dropped back into the “pocket” and with steam pouring from his brow picked his target and when
the ball was delivered from Duval into his arms there seemed nowhere to go, other than over the
line. He did manage to get over but before the referee could get down several St Austell hands were
underneath the ball and it was deemed to be held up.
The second half saw Helston kick off with a wind behind for a while which gave a slight advantage.
The Helston pack were on a mission and the outstanding backrow of Clark, Vincent and blindside
Will Gibson were quickly up to put the opposition under severe pressure. Helston camped in the St
Austell 22 for a good 10 minutes before being awarded a penalty for holding on. This time Helston
decided to take the shot at goal and scrum half Duval stepped up. With driving rain and a strong
cross wind he skilfully slotted it right between the posts for Helston first 3 points.
St Austell looked determined from the kick off to put some points on the board. Berryman again
took the catch and sent replacement hooker John England on his way. The Helston forwards set up
multiple phases in the middle of the pitch before they released their potent backline, with a clever
side step from Blee and offload to Hawken they continued to get behind the “saints” defence.
Hawken looked eager and with a powerful run carved a hole through the St Austell defence, Gibson
received the ball from Hawken then spotted a gap and like an Olympic sprinter took his chance to go
for the line. He was stopped by some heroic tackling but 2nd row Jake Bolton was in hot pursuit and
quickly formed the ruck to secure ball. With Helston building pressure they spun the ball to the left
to find Hawken again who slipped it out to Toy who straightened the line and drew in a couple of
defenders before the offload to winger Richards who lit the afterburners to run in Helstons try near
to the corner. Matt Blee narrowly missed the conversion kicking now into a strong headwind.
Helston brought on fresh legs in on the wing with Theo Surridge and at scrum half with Will Trewin
replacing captain on the night Duval. St Austell were quick to restart and pinned Helston down in the
22. They were awarded a penalty for holding on and unfortunately given another 10 metres for
comments made to the referee. A tap and go saw a strong pack go for the Helston line, again heroic
defence from replacement Sam Charleston being supported by the backrow trio of Vincent, Clark
and Gibson couldn’t keep them out, a fantastic line ran by the St Austell winger saw them put down
under the posts, with the conversion a “given” this brought the game to within a point (8-7)
St Austell now had second wind and were persistently trying to break the Helston defences but the
team stood strong until the final whistle. This result meant Helston Colts had achieved the league
and cup double this season, going unbeaten in the league and cup, with only one loss to Redruth in a
friendly and one loss to Weston Hornets RFC on their recent tour.
The result was testament to all the players who have made such a tremendous effort all season. To
the coaches who have given the boys so much of their time, commitment and dedication.
1. Jordi Hoskin
2. Dan Woodley
3. Josh Berryman
4. Adam Christophers
5. Jake Bolton
6. Will Gibson
7. Tiaan Clark
8. Jonathan Vincent
9. Dan Duval (c)
10. Matt Blee
11. Ben Richards
12. Tom Hawken
13. Wade Toy
14. Finley Holden
15. Kyle Bradley
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