A downpour half an hour before the start caused some anxiety but thanks to the excellent drainage at the Moto Parc, the meeting got under way on time.
Surprisingly, the greasy conditions affected the home side more than the visitors and although Aidan Collins was the only Hitman to record a heat win, his team-mates consistently filled the lower order places to keep the Hitmen in contention.
There was never more than four points between the teams until the final race and the Gulls owed their win to the individual brilliance of skipper Seemond Stephens and a sparkling performance from Adrian Newman
There was sound support from Gary Lobb, whose score would have been better had he not fallen in his last two rides when trying to make up lost ground.
A problem with the starting gate caused a number of races to be re-run after unsatisfactory starts and a lengthy delay followed Heat 8 whilst running repairs were made. At this stage, the Gulls held a two point lead following a 4-2 from Newman and Ford.
After Heat 13, in which Lobb fell while trying to snatch second place, the Gulls were still holding their slim lead but Newman came into the 14th as a reserve replacement for Martin Williams and produced an impressive manoeuver around the outside on the first bend to hold off Paul Macklin's determined challenge. Macklin then fell, allowing Jason Prynne to take third and give St Austell a four point advantage.
Stephens and Newman settled the issue with a maximum in the last race.
Newman's only defeat by an opposing rider came in Heat 12 at the hands of Collins, but Stephens recorded a faultless six-ride maximum and went on to defeat Collins in the Bronze Helmet.