10

Tries – 2
Conversions – 0

52

Tries – 8
Conversions – 6

Old Pats continued their impressive winning streak as they brushed aside Cornish side St Just 52-10 in another display of clinical attacking rugby.

The visitors wasted no time in shaking off the five-hour journey down to the south coast when Wyatt Dundas made an electric outside break before offloading to the supporting Sam Rhymes to put the Pats 5-0 up inside three minutes.

The hosts rallied and in front of a passionate home crowd, desperate to keep their winning record intact, began to physically test the away side in the loose.

After sustaining some early pressure, it wasn’t long before the away side scored their second try when winger George Warley pounced on a loose pass to intercept and streak clear, with Rhymes converting for 12-0.

With a backline containing six out of seven players aged under 22, the pats were beginning to stretch St Just with their raw pace, and it was another young speedster, Jonny Fenley, who scored the away side’s third try of the match when a perfectly executed set-play move saw him burst through untouched to score under the posts from 20 metres out.

Whilst Pats were experiencing success in the wide channels, it was the power and stability provided by front-row trio Joe Hart, Joe Dike (playing on despite a dislocated finger) and Jonny Daws who rampaged through the hosts scrum on multiple occasions.

A wild attempted slide tackle from number eight Charlie Maker saw him sent to the sin-bin, and the home side grabbed a try of their own before the break to keep themselves in the game.

Normal service resumed on the Cornish coastline shortly after the restart, when Nathan Burtwell and impact substitute Harry Royle, began to throw their weight around, causing chaos in the home side’s ranks.

Skipper James McIntosh ran a slick line-out operation all afternoon, that laid the platform for tries four and five for pats, the first of which was scored by Archie Long after some gorgeous handling from Ollie French and the Fenley found the flanker in acres on the left-flank where he was able to trot in from short-range. The touchline conversion was added by Rhymes to make it 26-5.

Perhaps the pick of the bunch for the Pats however, was orchestrated by the evergreen Chris Downes, filling in at inside centre for the afternoon, who rolled back the years with a piece of play almost as audacious as his gold-tinted boots he had donned for the afternoon, as he drew the attention of three defenders, before getting his hands free through contact and offloading without looking, out the back door to the supporting Dundas who dotted down from point blank range, bringing it to 31-5.

With the home fans left almost as shocked as their side, who had been played off the park, the next score came with an air of inevitability as Joe McDean crossed for his token try, after Rhymes made a break through midfield and found the winger who raced clear from 30 metres, before adding the extras to make it 38-5.

Roles were then reversed as McDean raced clear and this time found Rhymes on the touchline before the scrum-half turned the full-back inside out with a big left-foot step and was able to dot down unopposed for a 45-5.

The home side hit back with a deserved try of their own however, after Downes was shown yellow for some colourful verbal’s on his own line, St Just made their pressure tell with a second score from close range, but the rout was appropriately completed by Pats when a turnover by the industrious Fraser Goggin, saw the away side free to counter-attack once more, with the ball finding McDean who danced along the touchline to finish the contest at 52-10 and make it a memorable day out in the Cornish sunshine.

All visiting Old Pats players, officials and supporters would like to thank St Just for being fantastic hosts and, had it not been for the four-hour journey home, we would have loved to have stayed and shared a few post-match drinks with a great team and community club,

Pats now look forward to a home quarter-final tie against London-based Actonians, this Saturday at Everest Road as their search for a historic League and Cup double continues.

Sam Rhymes