It must surely too have been a strong indication to any neutral watching at the time, as to what the Pirates and their ever swelling army of support could bring to the higher echelons of rugby on this island of ours.

But that's another chapter to this tale. There is after all the 'small' matter of a stirring cup final between two evenly matched teams from National Division One to recount; and how they then proceded to show how strong and competitive it has become, most notably in the season now drawing to it's close.

At pitch level, the air temperature was well into the 70's by the time the two sides emerged to a huge roar from the crowd, a little before noon. Surely a deciding factor as the match evolved?

"Most certainly" thought Pirates skipper, Gavin Cattle, in the post-match Pirates party in the Invincibles Bar, who conceded that by half time his team were certainly feeling the effects of the heat, as they had tentatively held onto a 3-3 scoreline.

The Pirates though had begun brightly enough, and did enough to trouble the Exeter defence into an infringement in the opening minute or so. Leeds-bound Di Bernado stepped up, and coolly slotted the penalty kick to give the Cornishmen a morale boosting start.

This lead wasn't to last long as Exeter responded in typical fashion as they dominated the next phases of the game to exert real pressure on the Pirates' line. A series of kicks for the corner saw the defence cope manfully enough with the 'catch and drive' attempts, but with Mr Newitt's arm outstretched to indicate an advantage in favour of the Chiefs and Yapp in the pocket; his drop goal to level matters was a formality on 9 minutes.

With both teams now on the scorebaord, all was set for the game to explode into life. Despite the unseasonal heat, conditions were perfect for an open running game. Oddly though, and despite a visible desire from both teams to provide this, the next twenty minutes saw both sides cancel each other out and smother any serious try scoring opportunites.

Exeter though looked the more accomplished with ball in hand, probably because they were edging the possession stats. The Fatiafola brothers as expected looked menacing on the crash ball, and the Chiefs' variety in running lines threatened to do much, though rarely succeeded in making the telling breakthrough.

This was without doubt down to a resolute Pirates defence and special mention needs making to Hylton's contribution to this factor. In the league game at Sandy Park, it had been his missed tackle that had lead to the only try of the game. Part of Exeter's game plan clearly centred on him therefore, presumably sensing him to being a potential weakspot.

Time and again attacks were aimed at his flank both in hand and aerially, and all were rebuked with disdain as he caught everything, and tackled everyone with precision and power. An enduring image from this match were his unforgiving dump tackles on Kingdom and Duff which lead to a shift in attacking plans as the half progressed. In fact, had Mr Newitt been holding the ball at any time, he'd have probably nailed him too!

But attack the Chiefs did, and this was in no small way down to their disruption to the Pirates lineout which suffered from repeated turnovers for easily two thirds of the match.

Consequently as the half progressed, Cattle was unable to feed his three quarters line enough ball to work with. Possibly as a direct result of this when they did have some, the move invariably slowed down or the final pass lacked the necessary direction or distance.

Even so, as the half moved into it's last ten minutes; the Pirates at last strung something consistent together and forced another penalty chance for Di Bernado.

Against all probability the fly half missed, but made amends soon after with a delicious penalty kick to touch to his right, setting up a promising lineout position well inside the Devonian 22. But the lineout wasn't working was it!? And the Chiefs easily tidied things up and so ensure the contest which was by now tense and scrappy, remained level at 3-3 for the break.

This season has seen the Pirates more often than not produce better second period showings, and so the Pirates faithful hoped for once more. That their heroes came out with clear intent was also confirmed post match by the team captain, who described their dressing room talk as along the lines of "not wanting to have come this far and falling short-which was what appeared to be developing".

The first susbstition of the day was made too with Seal replacing Heard to freshen up the front row, and give Dan a warranted run out in the final.

Exeter though were also looking revitalised after the welcome break and came out with all guns blazing as they restarted the match. So ominous did they look that they matched the Pirates brisk start to the first half which rewarded Yapp with his second penalty of the game to edge the Chiefs in front for the first time on 41 minutes.

The Pirates responded immediately and put together their slickest move of the game so far which oh so nearly put McAtee clear on the left with a little over 25m for the winger to scamper over for glory. The final pass was cleverly delayed by the Chiefs defence isolating Rhoddri and surrendering possesion in the process.

In a very short space of time Exeter had shipped the ball out wide to Kingdom on their own left, and able to show their rivals how it should be done; scoring the first try of the game on 47 minutes.

Yapp was never going to miss the conversion, thus giving his team and their fans real cause to believe the trophy was heading no further than the end of the M5.

In the meantime Vinnicombe had replaced McAtee to try and add a different dimension in attack.

Di Bernado's second successful penalty of the afternoon five minutes later gave only brief hope, as Yapp responded similarly less than two minutes later, and once again extend his side's lead to ten points. (6-16)

Surely this was a signal for Exeter to open the floodgates and take the game out of reach? Pirates fans could have been forgiven for thinking so as they waited for Di Bernado to restart once more.

An unprecedented run of three successive league defeats for the Pirates in the run up to the final could have provided further evidence of this possibility. But then sometimes as the saying goes 'your name is on the cup', and the Cornishmen at last shook off any remaining shackles to their game as they first won possession from the own restart, and then set about the task of getting back into contention.

The real catalyst I believe came when some good mid field play opened up as Hylton crossed halfway and a two man overlap beckoned. Drawing in his marker near enough perfectly he looked to offload only to find himself blatantly taken out high and late in the only really nasty piece of play we witnessed in the whole match.

Play continued as he lay prostrate and clearly in trouble and the attack petered out with Exeter in possesion once more and with the put in at the scrum! The officials conferred but decided that nothing conclusive was seen much to most observers surprise.

From this point there was only one team in it and it wasn't Exeter as the Pirates fired up by this injustice, and the increasing volume coming from their support, bouyed them up for another final quarter onslaught.

And what an onslaught!

The whole complexion of the match turned as play centred almost entirely at the southern end of the stadium. The Exeter pack, so assured only moments earlier, struggled to resist their counterparts in all areas of play, which at last created the platform the Cornishmen needed. Motusaga in particular, with his partner in crime McKeen came to the fore, as they snuffed out everything on the fringes.

A Pirates try now seemed a case of when not if, and who else but Ma'asi should step up and provide one of those moments any Pirate fan present will treasure for a lifetime.

Yet another attack deep inside the Exeter 22 pierced the gain line significantly, setting up a ruck only 10m from the whitewash. Ma'asi eventually found himself with the ball and went.

And went.

And having shrugged off several tacklers, burst over the line just to the right of posts sending the Cornish crowd into delirium.

Di Bernado was never going to miss this one, as Yapp hadn't earlier, and with less than twenty minutes to go and now only three points separating the sides, there really was only going to be one outcome.

There was though still a lot of work to be done. Exeter may well have been rocking but they possessed enough mettle of their own to make a fight of it still.

Five minutes later though another nail was hammered in as Di Bernado accepted a gift of a penalty to level things and the Chiefs were now on the verge of seeking the peace pipe.

The writing was now truly on the wall as the final moved into it's last ten minutes.

All the enterprise was now with the Pirates though a 'free' drop goal attempt by Di Bernado was missed. It mattered not.

Cracknell and Inglis provided some younger fresher legs in place of a limping Cowley and Senekal, both whom had been immense all afternoon. Whilst with 74 minutes on the clock showing, Ma'asi made way for Nick Makin to make his final appearance in a Pirate shirt to great ovation.

After a series of attacking 5m scrums came to nothing, probably due to misChief on Exeter's part; Di Bernado decided enough was enough and banked on entering the last minutes with some reward and a three point lead.

The cheers from the stands said it all and the Pirates appeared to have timed their comeback perfectly. Only once did they concede any possession and territory which Exeter gamely threw about in search of a dramatic finish of their own.

But when McKeen found himself in the right place to make an interception and turn defence back into attack; the game was up.

There was still time for Winn to run on for Duncan Roke who after a painkilling injection in his shoulder had made the starting lineup having been in doubt till the 12th hour. His contribution had been invaluable, particularly when the Pirates found their feet in the last quarter.

Then the moment arrived as Bell knowing this was the last play, run the ball into touch and present Mr Hewitt with the chance to conclude matters with his whistle.

The contrast between victors and losers was stark, but as one would expect, the sportsmanship prevailed with consolation and congratulation to the fore until the players completed their laps of honour.

A great day then for Cornish rugby, particuarly as Mounts Bay completed an EDF Cornish double by disaptching a plucky Dunstablians 46-36 in the final event on the card as evening drew in.

Where this leads the Pirates though, is open to speculation. A major national cup win is one thing, and very creditable too bearing in mind where the club were 12 short years ago. But achieveing and then maintaining a position in the top flight remains the objective, and a very difficult one too if the quality of the Tigers and Ospreys Final is anything to judge by.

However, I think for the time being we can be excused for ignoring that factor, and revel in this moment for a while longer...well at least until next Sunday when the Bees visit Camborne...home to the EDF National Cup Holders anyway!

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