A LATE Ben Saunders penalty saw the Saints edge a error-strewn and nervy Cornish derby.

A stiff breeze and the first rains on a match day made handling difficult, along with a high penalty count and two wholly committed sides it all added up to a stop-start affair.

The Cornish All Blacks (CABs) made the early running and were rewarded with a try from a catch and drive on five minutes scored by No.8 Ben Hancock (0-5).

The Saints responded to put the visitors under pressure but could not crack a determined defence. In the end the home side’s pragmatism saw them settle for two penalties from fly-half Saunders to go 6-5 in front on 17 minutes.

In a blink of an eye CABs retook the lead to leave the home crowd stunned. A long-range James Tucker penalty was quickly followed by an interception try after a mix up in the Saints backline on halfway spilled the ball allowing winger Billy Martin to sprint away for an unconverted try (6-13).

The home side started to play with renewed urgency and a surging run from hooker Pete Harris punched a hole in the black wall. The ball was spread wide for winger Max Bullen to score in the corner (11-13).

The Saints finished the half on top, but a mixture of poor execution and stoic defence left the scoreboard unchanged at the break.

The Saints made a blistering start to the second half with Hector Bright bursting over after a trademark run (16-13).

It felt like the momentum of the match had fully shifted to the home side, but it was immediately derailed when the try scorer was shown a yellow card for a high tackle at the restart.

The home side dug deep to see out the period without any major alarms and once restored to a full complement they went on to regain the ascendency.

Bullen went close to scoring a second and twice Jamie Stanlake threatened to break the shackles. Despite their endeavours they had to settle for a solitary Saunders penalty on 70 minutes (19-13).

A mistake on gathering the restart conceded a line-out to give the CABs their first foothold in the Saints’ 22 of the second half.

They built up a head of steam and with four minutes remaining grabbed a converted try from Mitch Hawken to steal the lead at 20-19 and send the visiting supporters wild.

However, the Saints had other ideas.

Saunders’ restart hung high in the wind allowing the chasing Saints to force a knock-on on the 22.

A powerful Saints surge saw the visitors’ scrum buckle giving the home side the chance to retake the lead.

Saunders steadied himself as a shroud of tension enveloped a deathly silent Tregorrick, but he held his nerve to calmly convert his fourth penalty kick of the game to make it 22-20 and seal a vital home win.

The Saints visit Marlborough on Saturday.

ST AUSTELL: Archie Bees, Arthur Fletcher, Ben Plummer, Jamie Stanlake, Max Bullen, Ben Saunders, Dan Tyrrell; Dan Bennett, Peter Harris, Charlie Nicholson; Mark Vian, Tom Daniel; Hector Bright, Cam Taylor, Adam Powell. Replacements: Matt Boothby, Pete Fletcher, Matt Shepherd.

Tries: Bullen, Bright; Convs: N/A; Pens: Saunders (4).