Sat 5th Jan 2008

A hat-trick of sparkling individual tries from in-form winger Paul Read lit up this Cornwall 1 local derby which the mud and rain threatened to ruin as a spectacle.

Bodmin may have had their problems on and off the field this season and but their dominance in the opening quarter belied their basement club status. They fielded a very young and adventurous side with many of their colts making the step up. They tackled superbly all day and had Saint Paul Read not been wearing the number 11 shirt the score would have been very much closer.

The visitors started much the better of the two sides, making good use of the stiff south westerly breeze to keep Saints pegged back in their 22. Sound defence particularly from the back row of Jeffs, Kellow and Grigg repeatedly denied any scoring opportunity. It was from a trademark Jeffs tackle that turnover ball saw Saints first attacking opportunity. An excellent handling move ended with skipper Sid Venner being tackled high just outside the visitors 22. Sid himself converted the penalty to put the home side on the board 3 nil.

That signalled the start of the Paul Read show. After a foot in touch denied him his first score the big winger was put into space following a clever inside and outside dummy from tricky centre Kieran Murphy. Read had only 50m and three men to beat but his pace and power has made him Saints leading try scorer this season, and he made the line with something to spare. Sid converted for a 10 nil lead and then had a hand in Read's second try when he kicked ahead. Bodmin's covering winger fumbled in defence, allowing the charging Read to dribble the ball over the line for his brace. At this point the superior Saints threequarters were running the ball wide at every opportunity in a display of handling skill which completely defied the conditions. It was from one such move that the evergreen Guppy put a flying Sid Venner into space. Sid rounded his winger and popped the inside scoring pass to pacey winger Rob Orton who cut back from the touchline to wrong foot the fullback and score under the posts. Venner converted for a 17-0 half-time lead.

After such an impressive closing salvo the large crowd were expecting more fireworks in the second spell, but the game faded in the gathering gloom. Firstly Saints over-complicated matters by attempting to run when kicking was a better option, and secondly they underestimated their visitors defence. Only once, with just 5 minutes remaining, did Saints breach it. From a series of attacking rucks the ball was spun quickly left where it found none other than Paul Read. He swatted off his opposite number and scorched in from 25 metres for his hat-trick. Venner converted to make the final tally 27-0.