National Division 1

18th March 2007

Recreation Ground

Pirates 16

Titans 16

Earth Titans

15 Mike Whitehead, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Showan Smith, 12 Jamie Blackwood, 11 Errie Claassens, 10 Gareth Steenson (Turnbull 70), 9 Joe Bedford (Capt), 1 Sam Walsh, 2 Neil Hanna (Conroy 73), 3 Adam Hopcroft, 4 Erik Lund (Cochrane 69), 5 Louie McGowan, 6 Hendre Fourie, 7 Bernard Hennessey, 8 Jannie Bornman.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Kilbane, 17 Steve Croall, 18 Nigel Conroy, 19 Gareth McComb, 20 Neil Cochrane, 21 Andrew Turnbull, 22 Tom Allen.

Cornish Pirates

15 Adryan Winnan, 14 Rhodri McAtee, 13 Duncan Roke, 12 Duncan Bell, 11 Jonny Hylton, 10 James Moore, 9 Gavin Cattle (Capt), 1 Alan Paver, 2 Viliami Ma’asi, 3 Sam Heard, 4 Heino Senekal, 5 Joe Beardshaw, 6 Stan McKeen, 7 Iva Motusaga, 8 Tim Cowley.

Replacements: 16 Rhodri Wells, 17 Alberto Di Bernardo, 18 Steve Winn, 19 Matt Evans, 20 James Inglis, 21 Nick Makin, 22 Dan Seal.

It could have been all so different though had the Titans elected to kick an easy penalty, five minutes from time! Although Roth believed they were about to score from the re-set scrum, hindsight told us taking the 3 points would have been the better option.

Post game Rotherham Head Coach Andre Bester said, “I am very proud of the players, they were magnificent today! Our second half performance was outstanding. In terms of the Championship, that is still definitely on for us and the fat lady isn’t singing yet!”

What about the penalty decision with five minutes to go Andre? “Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Bester added and then continued, “but we have been scoring tries all season from those positions, whether it is from a pushover or a penalty try. Maybe we thought there was longer on the clock, but nevertheless I back my players wholeheartedly 100%”

An unruffled Bester went on, “Two points down here is a magnificent outcome, we are still within touching distance of Leeds and now we move on. Next up is Bedford and we now fully focus on them.”

A disappointed Rotherham Club Captain Joe Bedford said, “We were terrible in the first half, we let them play and we didn’t play at all. But at half time we said we wouldn’t be too conservative in the second half and that we would move the ball around. We said we were going to take the shackles off and we would die trying – so to speak.

Bedford continued, “I was really proud of the guys today and at the end – although they are a full time side – I thought we looked the fitter side.”

How has this result affected Rotherham’s title ambitions Joe? “We’ve still got to go to Leeds and if we beat them up there, then I still believe we can do it!”

Pirates started much the brighter despite playing with a very strong wind in their faces. However it was Roth who got the scoreboard moving first with a neatly taken penalty from Gareth Steenson.

On the quarter hour mark the hosts put Roth under massive pressure on their own line, but turnover ball and a magnificent wind-assisted 60 metre clearance from Steenson alleviated the danger.

The game started to descend into a scrappy affair with lots of errors coming from both sides in the difficult conditions. On 26 minutes after an error this time from Cornish Pirates, Steenson struck an impressive 45 metre penalty to increase Roth’s lead to 6 points.

On 34 minutes Roth suffered a massive blow as their talisman forward Hendre Fourie was sin-binned for spoiling Pirates ball. From the resulting penalty James Moore converted from almost in front of the posts.

One minute before the break Roth were put under severe pressure on their own scrum just five metres from their line. A box kick at that stage would possibly have been the correct decision. However the ball was passed to Steenson deep inside his in-goal area. Steenson was tackled before he had the chance to clear.

From the resulting 5 metre scrum, the impressive Pirates pack bustled over for a try from number eight Tim Cowley. Moore made the simple conversion to send the hosts in at the break with a 10-6 advantage.

At half time Rotherham must have feared the worst, trailing by four points and knowing they would be playing into the fierce Cornish wind in the second half.

As it turned out though, Roth pretty much dominated proceedings both in terms of territory and possession.

On 49 minutes Pirates’ tight head prop Sam Heard was binned for persistent infringement at the ruck.

From the penalty Roth kicked for touch and set up a 5 metre catch and drive move. Rotherham’s well drilled pack of forwards marched on and hooker Neil Hanna was the one who claimed the touch down. Steenson’s conversion attempt fell short from just 30 metres out – such was the strength of the wind.

Almost immediately Pirates reclaimed the lead in this topsy turvy encounter through a James Moore penalty, after Roth had been penalised for entering a maul from the side.

On 56 minutes and with Roth’s forwards providing lots of go-forward, Erik Lund powered over for his 3rd try of the campaign to give Roth a 16-13 lead. This followed numerous phases as the Roth pack mounted a series of pick and drives. Once again the strong wind prevented Steenson from making the conversion.

On 62 minutes a rare Pirates visit into Roth territory yielded 3 points. Roth were adjudged to have held on in the tackle and Moore converted to level things up at 16 apiece.

The last 15 minutes of the contest saw Roth virtually camped in the Pirates half. Time and again the Roth packed edged close to the home line, only for handling errors, turnovers or plain dogged defending denying the visitors the four points that their tremendous performance had deserved. For all of Rotherham’s magnificent endeavour the victory was not to be on this occasion.

Full Time: Cornish Pirates 16-16 Rotherham

As disappointing as a draw is, the fat lady is not singing yet in terms of the Championship. On this performance, Roth certainly has the beating of Leeds up at Headingley and don’t forget Leeds travel to Plymouth on the last day of the season.

Oh no, the game is not up yet, not by a long way and Rotherham know that their fate still lies in their own hands. You write this squad off at your peril!

Attendance: 3120

Other Weekend Results

Sat 17 March 07

Bedford 14-10 Nottingham
Doncaster 27-24 Moseley
Otley 17-34 Newbury
Pertemps Bees 31-27 London Welsh
Sedgley Park 23-35 Plymouth Albion
Waterloo 21-22 Coventry
 

Sun 18 March 07

Leeds 25-18 Exeter

National Division 1

Rotherham v Bedford - 31 March, at Clifton Lane.

kick off 3.00pm