Penryn RFC coach Paul Trevaskis said a first half yellow card for his side cost 'them dearly' in their loss to  St Austell on Saturday as they fell to a 30 points to five loss.

Penryn had started the better of the two teams, with their forwards dominating the scrum. However, they well unable to turn their territory into tries and when wing James Martin was shown a yellow card, St Austell took advantage to run in two unanswered tries.

“For the first 20 to 25 minutes it was a very even game,” said Trevaskis. "But then we picked up the yellow card and during the 10 minutes spell, that we were one player down, they scored two tries. It cost us dearly.”

The two tries came from Paul Winterbottom and Ian Venner and gave the Saints a 10-0 lead at half-time. A drop goal from Andy Ashwin at the start of the second half increased their lead before a try from Sam Tank made it 18-0.

Martin pulled a try back for Penryn, but the visitors struggled to cope with the movement of the Saints backs and further tries were added late on from Steve Howarth and Tank.

However despite the loss, Trevaskis is not too despondent with the start his side have made to the season.

“We have had a good couple of wins,” he said. “We have had to start from minus five having had a points deduction carried over from last season and we have got a few injuries at the minute, which haven't helped. But we are just looking to pick up a few wins here and there and get to the end of October and try and kick on from there.”

Penryn are due to face Tavistock on Saturday at the Memorial Ground. Tavistock have had a similar start to Penryn this season, having won two and lost three of their opening five games.

It is a game Trevaskis admits his side will be looking to win in their bid to move up the Western Counties West table.

“It is not a must win game, but is certainly one we feel we can win. I think if we play like we did on Saturday and just convert our chances better then we will do ok. It is certainly a game we will be targeting for a win, but you can say that and then end up with egg on your face.”