Barnstaple kick off season with 29-14 victory over St Austell in wet conditions

Barnstaple lived up to their pre-season billing as promotion contenders in the South West One division with a 29-14 win at St Austell.

Saints got off to the best start with an early try from flanker Hector Bright, converted by Matt Shepherd. Barnstaple No. 8, Brandon Moore, grabbed the next score to cut St Austell’s lead to 7-5 at the break.

Barum used their dominant pack of forwards to good advantage in a soggy second half, piling up four tries without reply. Flanker Ryan Smale, lock Arthur Marks (with a Jordan Petherbridge conversion), Moore, and a penalty try took the score to 29-7.

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St Austell finished the game with a flowing move that ended with centre George Tregilgas crashing over for a converted try.

Winston James, the Barnstaple coach, said that after a "rusty" start, everything clicked into place in the second half.

"St Austell started sharply and had us on the back foot," said James. "From half-time on, we were mostly on top and played with a lot more shape. We had some late dropouts after picking the team, which didn’t help. Our set piece was superb, and we played to the conditions well."

Kiwi prop James Fraser and former Bideford wing Alex Macmillan both made their Barnstaple debuts against St Austell.

Barnstaple are away to Brixham this Saturday afternoon. Scrum-half Tyler Gordon-Oke and lock Koto Viliame, who missed the win over St Austell due to illness, are both hoping to be available for selection.

Meanwhile, Barnstaple Athletic lost 31-22 at home to Pirates Amateurs in their Counties Western West debut. The Tics were never ahead in the game after going 10-0 behind in the first 20 minutes, but were only 17-15 down at half-time.

Pirates pulled clear in the second half with two tries in a 10-minute spell, and the Tics only managed to pull one try back in the time left. Pat Henry and Ben Hookway went over for the Tics before the break. Keyan McInnery converted the latter, and there was a penalty shunt for Kyke Bassett. Bassett converted his own try 15 minutes from time after the Pirates had concluded their scoring.

Tavistock provide the Tics’ opposition at Pottington Road (2:30 pm) this Saturday.