Special mention too for the late withdrawal of Steve Winn from the squad who has suffered a family bereavement. Thoughts are with you Stevie!

This corresponding fixture over the last three seasons has produced close, tense affairs with very little in the way of an open running game. The last such was a McAtee inspired Pirate win a little over four years before, at a time when the Welsh 7's wizard seemed barely out of nappies. Returning to the present day, it was a side that seemingly oozed with youngsters at the final whistle, and with more than just one whippersnappers flair to inspire promise for future glories.

At hooker, Daviduik seems to have a headstart on his other peers, having taken his opportunity after Elloway's injury with assurance. A future skipper in the making perhaps? Time will tell.

Elsewhere, Bright and Andrew made cameo performances in the last ten minutes to further enhance their credentials for future reference. The latter in particular making his mark in such a short space of time, with a sequence of tackling that culminated in the creaming of Welsh No. 8 Brown.

Clear blue skies complimented the calm, crisp winters afternoon as Whatling's kick off was soon recovered by the black and golds via a lineout inside the Welsh 22. Possession was secured from the set piece and the tone set as the Exiles found themselves pinned on their line. Forward probes found few crumbs initially and so the search for a gap headed west towards the grandstand before settling in front of the posts. Simon, who's return to match fitness continues to progress with assurance, opted to bring this particular attack to a conclusion with a simple drop goal to avoid his troops becoming bogged down and reward this early endeavour. (3-0)

Pirate pressure resumed from the restart but was gradually thwarted as London Welsh at last began to make an impression. For ten minutes or so the reds turned up the heat as fly half Thomas gave his midfield something to play with, requiring the Cornish defence to be very much on their toes. Welsh pressure almost told as the Exiles managed to cross the line, only to be held up and earn a 5m scrum which promptly went backwards at a rate of knots as the Pirate pack put on a good shove.

In Mr Garner's eyes though something was amiss and a quick word was had to the men in black. The packs reset with Welsh returning the favour until the ball popped out of the side which Morgan caught with his foot. All seemed hunky dory only for Greg to trot under the posts with arm raised. Thomas chipped his easy conversion over handing the Exile a 7-3 lead, an advantage that was not to last long, nor repeated.

For the audacity of it all the Pirates regrouped quickly and re-asserted their intentions. Less than five later and a Luke penalty rebounded off the upright and enticingly in front of both defence and approaching attackers alike. The bounce was unkind though and the knock-on advantage for the Exiles was negated by their clearance to touch midway between 10 & 22.

The Pirates though were looking ominous and it was now a only a matter of when not if, their try account would be opened and settle any remaining doubts that may be lingering. At 25 minutes it was the ever improving Ireland who obliged but not without a price.

On touching down and prostrate, the ex London Irish centre fell victim to what appeared to be some debatable attention from Chilten's boot. Not unsurprisingly the matter created a flashpoint where punches were exchanged, but no-one with authority had seen enough to penalise. Luke converted his kick and the seven pointer seemed to give ample justice as the Pirates regained the lead (10-7), and to both sides' credit didn't allow the incident to taint matters further.

Mark though was forced from the field for the remainder of the half, dazed and with blood streaming from a head wound. His replacement was the mercurial figure of Jimmy Moore, a late recall after his puzzling omission from the original team sheet. If example were needed of his quick thinking alone, then consider a moment late on in the game when realising his tacklers had him touch bound, he placed the ball in the arms of one as they fell, to earn an attacking lineout for his team!

The Pirates though did lapse as they committed the sin of conceding a penalty soon after scoring, which Thomas slotted to level things again at 10-10. A further blow soon followed too, as Evans had to leave the field with an injured right shoulder to be replaced by Burak who went into the second row while Gulliver filled in at flanker.

In between came the moment that many would see as the turning point to give the Pirates sufficient ascendancy to keep the Exiles at arms length or further . A cheeky kick through from Whatling seemed destined to go dead, or at the very least lead to a Welsh 22 dropout. As the ball firstly neared and then cross the try line, Tagicakibau appeared far too casual as Tuohy closed in at speed. The Irishman's momentum and trajectory was the more committed and with the nod from the touch judge, took full advantage to score in the corner. Unfortunately Luke missed the difficult conversion but the score was now 15-10 and the lead restored once more.

Time for a breather was not granted much to Exile despair. Another long clearance was fielded well by Vakacegu towards the main stand and between the halfway and his own 10. With little space initially his run began laterally but with increasing pace. As the run curved and headed towards the far touchline, all around appeared static and a memorable try from the Fijian beckoned as a string of Welsh defenders were left in his wake. Sadly though a foot into touch at the death denied even a deft offload to Daviduik some glory. Darren in sympathy knocked on anyhow!

No doubt stunned and with an eye on half time that was only 2-3 minutes away, the Welsh found enough resolve to manufacture a drop goal to narrow the deficit to two briefly (15-13). They could not resist however a further Pirate onslaught that saw Tuohy scuttled over for his second try. Moore, on for Ireland, managed the tricky conversion from the touchline to leave the Pirates 9 points ahead as Mr Garner blew for the dash to the bar.

With the lowering sun now in their eyes, Welsh woes were compounded within three minutes of the restart, as Whatling mirrored his first half drop goal following the Pirates turning a scrum against the head (25-13).

Changes to personnel by the Exiles did little to improve their lot as the third quarter progressed and the Pirates threatened to run riot. The priority of course was nailing the fourth try and that precious bonus point. Beforehand Moore, now on again for good, kicked a further penalty to extend the lead to beyond two scores and importantly take a step closer to denying the Welsh even a losing bonus point (28-13).

At the same time Jones too had come on for....flanker Chris Morgan who'd taken a knock in the ribs. Moments of confusion for onlookers in the know as a bit of a boo-boo on the replacements front appeared to have occured. The Pirates now had only seven recognised forwards on and a scrum was about to be set! Questions answered as Luke filled the void and added to his stock on the day in the process.

Thomas cancelled that lead extension on the hour with a second penalty of his own but it offered little hope as they couldn't follow through. Two tries in five minutes from Tuohy, claiming his hat-trick; and Fairhurst, following a delightful feinted pass to Moore on his outside finally confirmed the outcome as the score extended to an impressive 38-16.

Enter stage left Masters' Bright and Andrew for Luke and Vakacegu (cramp and no wonder!). With Luke's withdrawal each ensuing scrum required various re-shuffles. Bedes by now had his ankle strapped and long since reverted to his more effective 8 spot. But the flanking berth now had the reliable Cook filling in with vigour as the clock ticked by towards the now settled outcome.

There was still time for consolation for the Welsh as Brown at last found a way through to go under the posts which Thomas converted blindfold (38-23).

Another notable win on the road then to erase the frustration of Brickfields. No doubt Lauren and her cohorts will be kept busy though with the various casulties, but with plenty of individuals showing hitherto unseen versatility, who can say with any certainty what the second half of the season has in store. Whatever it brings and besides what may have been possible in the 'first fifteen', the return fixtures are likely to hold plenty of variety and surprises for sure.

Welsh Pix 6-12-08

Cornish Pirates: 38
15 M. Vakacegu 14 P. Devlin 11 B. Tuohy
12 T. Luke 13 M. Ireland
10 S. Whatling 9 E. Fairhurst
8 M. Evans 7 C. Morgan 6 B. Bedes
5 B. Gulliver (C) 4 H. Senekal
3 S. Heard 2 D. Dawidiuk 1 A. Paver

Replacements: 16 P. Cook (for Luke 60) 17 D. Seal (for Heard (57) 18 P. Andrew (for Paver 71) 19 M. Burak (for Evans 36) 20 R. Jones (for Whatling 54) 21 J. Moore (blood Ireland 27-40) 22 R. Bright (for Vakacegu 71)

Tries: Ireland, Tuohy 3, Fairhurst
Cons: Luke, Moore
Pen: Moore
Drop Goals: Whatling 2

Tries: Penalty, Brown
Cons: Thomas 2
Pens: Thomas 2
Drop Goal: Thomas

Referee: Greg Garner
Touch Judges: Nigel Higginson, Peter Huckle
Assessor: Tony Spreadbury