In the aftermath of a match that had taken until after the break to really come to life, there is no doubt that the Pirates will feel a little aggrieved by what eventually transpired. Though this frustration has to be tempered by thoughts of their own misjudgements that put themselves under pressure, where before there had been little of real significance.

True; the Cornish pack had been pushed around at scrum time all afternoon. But with Evans and Morgan in particular putting in the overtime all over the shop this inequality seemed to be less of a consequence as the Pirates deservedly went into the last ten minutes with a ten point leading margin.

Quite how things disintegrated is a mystery despite one or two possible pointers. When a kick ahead by Tuohy as the Pirates pressed for more, defied the elements and went dead; you'd have still bet your grandma's teeth in the bedside glass that a reverse was highly unlikely. The triple substitution that saw the integral part of the Pirates ascendancy; Griffiths & Jones, replaced by the fresh legs of Fairhurst and Whatling shouldn't have posed any problem. Though I'd have been tempted to keep them there as they were on the pace and buzzing. But then the usually more composed Whatling's loose kicking away of vital possession at the death did grate on the fillings.

On the flip side, Mr Doyle's decisions to firstly award the penalty try; turn to his assistant whose view couldn't have been any more conclusive than his own for the second try, and then be conned by Montagu's appeal for the ball being taken out when the Pirate in possession was clearly 2m in play on the final play all appeared  shocking on the face of it. However, a little more savviness, and the ability not to become rabbits dazzled by headlights for a couple of minutes more would have prevented 4 certain points turn into 1 so cruelly.

A scrappy first half had given little indication of the eventual outcome as both Tonks and Jones managed only a pot each from seven attempts. To be fair to both a swirling breeze at ground level disguised matters from the comfort of the stand, and Jones too only narrowly missed a couple from inside his own half as his recent 100% prowess faltered slightly.

As it was the Welsh youngster had to settle for just the solitary flag raiser on four minutes which gave the visitors first blood and a lead they were to hold for twenty or so minutes, as Tonks too struggled to find his range.

Away from the kicking tee it was the Pirates who enjoyed most of what few spoils were on offer and came closest to scoring the first try soon after taking the lead.

Nottingham had made their first serious incursion into Pirates territory and spun the pill out to their left. McAtee read the situation well and found himself in the right place at the right time to begin the move of the half midway inside his own 22. With the Green & Whites caught wrong footed and hurriedly switching into defence mode, the Whippets' intitial burst made good forward ground before he was finally halted and forced to offload.

With the hosts able to regroup momentarily, the travelling 300+ fans were still able to roar on some swift handling that saw Tuohy wide on the Pirates left and with the line beckoning. The try though never came as some last ditch Notts tackling bundled the Irshman into touch barely 3m from glory.

The tone seemed set and but for a forward pass by Tuohy to McAtee with a clear run to the line from halfway the Pirates may have been out of sight before half time.

This was as close as either side came to breaking the whitewash in a first period that ultimately petered out and run out of breath completely at 3-3 with players beginning to drop like flies. Notts scrummy Usasz was the first to fall over, following yet another Notts knock on when in attack. Though he was ably replaced by Pilgrim.

Worringly for the Pirates, Betty had to be stretchered off with a convincingly rumoured broken peg; though this later happily transpired to be nothing of the sort, with Sam witnessed upright and on his feet without aid later on. Motusaga stepping up to the breach in his absence

Mr Doyle therefore saw little option but to blow up and send everyone in to have a re-think. Although not before McAtee took a knock late on and was to take no further part also; Moore appearing after the break to try and inject that elusive spark.

Whether James can take any responsibility is best left to those more in the know, but it was clear that something must have been added to the tea as both sides looked that more potent. Tonks and Jones too found their length and line, as a couple of penalties each in the first fifteen minutes or so tripled both teams points tallies, yet failing to seperate either; the scores still level at 9-9.

The Pirates though were still edging matters should it come to taking the decision to the judges, and it was they who looked most capable of scoring in a more enterprising manner.

On the hour then and it was the ever slippery Griffiths who provided the moment that should been the turning point that finally turned the game. Picking the ball inside of Nottingham's 22, his run took him into some space heading towards the right of the uprights which grew even wider as the defence stood back and admired. By the time there was any reaction from the men in Green it was too late as Nicky dived triumphantly through the late and futile resistance.

Jones' conversion was straightforward, and his points tally increased by three more only four minutes later, as the homesters looked all at sea and bereft of any clue as to how to respond, let alone find the two scores necessary to reverse the seemingly destined defeat.

Then it all went Pete Tong as the previously described errors and possible injustices all conspired to deny the Pirates one last chance to redeem themselves as they eventually regained possession from the final restart at 19-23 down.

Winning a scrum well inside the Nottingham 22 the Pirates resisted the shove sufficiently and worked the ball out to their left with Vakacegu & Tuohy ready to pounce. The tackles flew in and it looked as if touch would be found but for some quick hands in contact that saw another phase surely being set up. Alas, what may have been a lucky escape in the end was denied as the officials fell for it and halted proceedings there and then.

A shame in many ways and several Notts fans commented post match to me personally that the Pirates had been robbed which could be seen as giving sway to this. But if only the 'goods hadn't been on clear view on the back seat' in the first place!

Cornish Pirates: 19
15 M. Vakacegu 14 B. Tuohy 11 R McAtee
13 P. Devlin 12 T. Luke
10 R. Jones 9 N. Griffiths
8 M Evans 7 S. Betty 6 C. Morgan
5 B. Gulliver (capt) 4 S. Raven
3 S. Heard 2 R. Elloway 1 P. Cook.

Replacements: 16 D. Seal 17 P. Andrew 18 I. Motusaga 19 S. Whatling 20 E. Fairhurst 21 J. Moore 22 S.Winn

Try: Griffiths
Con: Jones
Pens: Jones 4
 

Replacements: 16 Fowkes 17 Harris 18 Hemingway, McDonald, 19 Elphisnton 20 Pilgrim 21 Youngs 22 Thompson

Tries: Penalty, Montagu
Cons: Tonks 2
Pens: Tonks 3

Referee: JP Doyle
Touch Judges: Adrian Hartwell, Rhys Davies

Attendance: 1705

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