Newbury 10 Pirates 39
Post match reflections by both interim Head Coach, Brett Davey and a back in favour Jimmy Moore, expressed satsifaction at a conclusive "job done", but with acknowledgement that certain aspects will need significant improvement from hereon in.
Beginning Sunday week when, close rivals Bedford pay a visit to the Duchy, no doubt seeking revenge for their humiliation back in November and striving to keep the Pirates at arms length in the league standings. For sure they won't be as forgiving of any minor errors, or as slow out of the stalls as the Pirates ultimately were on this occasion.
Team selection had revealed several changes from the previous weeks successful foray at Moseley, with obvious inclination towards resting a face or two before the St Piran's Day festivities. Motusaga & Senekal being the most high profile examples; whilst Heard had withdrawn late through illness handing the ever dependable Seal the '3' jersey accordingly.
Winnan's exclusion from the 22 though had other more disturbing implications though, with 'disciplinary matters' within the club itself stated as cause.
Any hints of disruption were quickly dispelled despite going down to that early strike, as it was clear from the restart that there was no lack of ambition from the visitors. The Pirates responded immediately and promptly set up camp in Newbury territory for what seemed for the most part; the duration.
A break by who else (?), Steve Winn, had the Blues on the backfoot from the get-go. Although further questioning probes from Vakacegu and Havilli; enjoying a rare run out, ultimately came to nothing.
Pressure mounted and with positive intent at the forefront of Pirate thinking, Jones was able to kick for the corner twice in quick succession as Mr Tutty's Pea began to sound with un-nerving frequency for the hosts, with barely five minutes of the eighty passed. These too proved Fruitless as both were suppressed through a combination of error and ill-discipline. Daviduik however was agonisingly closer to the whitewash than he realised on one of these occasions.
No matter, as it seemed an air of 'when not if' drifted over proceedings despite a near interception by Nutt outside his own 22; and a missed second penalty attempt by Griffiths providing precious little respite for the few Newbury faithfull in attendance and concluding an interesting first quarter.
The breakthrough finally came as Bedes bulldozed his way over under the posts on the half hour, following some excellent work on the right by Moore and Vakacegu who looked unstoppable. Jones easily converted and unlocked the door to a twenty minute spell either side of the break which effectively killed off the game as any kind of a contest and seal another vital bonus point. 7-3
Five minutes later and it was that livewire Griffiths poaching the spoils for the 4th time in two appearances. This following a move off an attacking 5m lineout that had been gifted to the Pirates following a suicidal quick throw-in by Newbury into their own in-goal area, which created panic rather than the intended Barbarian-like counter attack. Jones, who ended with a 6 from 7 success rate did the rest and the ball was now definitely rolling. 14-3
Half time couldn't come quick enough for the homesters who looked on the verge of disintegration; a state of affairs not helped by a third try from Moore that had more than a suspicion of a forward movement in it's execution. Some quick thinking on the wingers part and in spite of the doubts of it's validity, produced some nifty footwork and an almost un-opposed dash to the touchdown wide out right. This time Jones couldn't quite dissect the posts, but the Welsh lad did dispel any thoughts of a change of kicking fortunes personally on the day, with a peach of a penalty from inside his own half to draw the period to a close 22-3.
On resumption of play it was a case of 'as you were' as the Pirates went in search of the bonus point upon receipt of the kick off. Moments later and everyone was trotting back to their requisite starting positions after skipper Gulliver had created the opportunity for Daviduik to plunder more points and have the scoreboard operators sweating like they hadn't since Leeds visited. Their concerns were shortlived though despite Jones adding five more points from the boot from the conversion and a further penalty with half an hour still to play 32-3.
Bouyed by their clear dominance in all areas not least at scrum time, the Cornishmen appeared able now to score at will. There was though the ever present temptation to throttle back a little, even if in reality anything more than cruise control had yet to be truely engaged. This said, it was only really the visitors offering any serious attacking threat as Mr Tutty and his Assistants wondered if they could bring anything to the table that was newsworthy.
Till now the game had been played in an atmsophere not unlike that which would have been witnessed close by in the paddock at the racecourse; that's to say with little serious hostility other than the off chance of a stray hoof dislodging a bottle of Boli from it's ice bucket and raising eyebrows at worse. In a way then, Burak's deserved dispensing to the Naughty Step for an attempted trip/professional foul as a rare Blues incursion into Pirate territory threatened to upset the trends till now; acted as said 'hoof'.
Even so, the most vociferous Cyclops from either side would have been left quite bewildered as to how, barely twelve minutes later, a switch of codes looked on the cards as both teams had had their numbers reduced to 13!! Former league man Devlin, may have been licking his lips at the prospect with his obvious advantage, but by the time Nutt had joined his colleague Mockford, and former team mate Morgan, outside Sir's study that had now been vacated by a returning Burak; the impression to the outside world was that of a game littered with all the wrong sort of aggression. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Mockford's obstruction of Vakacegu after having grub kicked the pill beyond the defensive line was, to be fair, a good call by the touch judge. Otherwise....
No matter, any semblance of flow to the game further dissipated as fresh legs aplenty in both red & black and blue were despactched into the fray, wary of even the slightest transgression now that the Pea was in full cry. Local ambulance services were also called upon as what seemed like a fleet of meat wagons arrived at Monks Lane to collect some 'customers'; most notably scrum half Gasson who was nursing what appeared to be a broken arm.
The Pirates kept pressing to their credit and frequently stretched Newbury even when a man down determined to add to their tally of tries. Inevitably perhaps it was Moore who obliged, as he crossed the whitewash for a second time with five minutes remaining wide out on the right. Jones' attempt at the extras mirrored that of Moores' first half try, only this time the radar was tuned in perfectly 39-3.
There still time for more and a mazey run by Cowan could so easily have brought more spoils. As it was it was Newbury who had the last say as Stevenson skipped around all comers to score behind the posts and add a little respectability to the scoreline as he converted the games' last play as well.
The final shrill of the whistle heralded the end to a second encouraging success to Davey's stewardship and cause for at least tentative smiles to return to Pirate ranks. Five of the last seven fixtures to played are at Camborne against all their main rivals, whilst trips to Sedgeley & Leeds couldn't provide more contrasting hopes and expectations with regards potential targets from each. Interesting times then and every reason too for everyone in Pirate colours to unite and rise above recent events and so give greater chance of emerging a stronger entity than ever before.
Cornish Pirates: 39
15 M. Vakacegu 14 A. Havilli 11 J. Moore
13 P. Devlin 12 S. Winn 10 R. Jones 9 N. Griffiths
8 B. Bedes 7 S. Betty 6 C. Morgan
5 B. Gulliver (Capt) 4 M. Burak 3 D. Seal 2 D. Dawidiuk 1 A. Paver.
Replacements: all used
16 P. Cook 17 S. Franklin 18 B. Cowan 19 M. Evans 20 E. Fairhurst 21 S. Whatling 22 M. Ireland.
Tries: Bedes, Moore 2, Griffiths, Daviduik
Cons: Jones 4
Pens: Jones 2
Yellows: Burak, Morgan
Newbury: 10
15 C. Perry 14 R. Crane 11 M.Nutt
13 N. Scott 12 M. Humphries 10 G. Griffiths 9 W. Gasson
8 J. Philips 7 S. Fox 6 J. Bentall (Capt)
5 B. Mockford 4 I. Ascroft-Leigh 3 T. Fidler 2 J. Clark 1 R. Green
Replacements: all used
16 H. Pendleton 17 P. Fincken 18 R. Noonan 19 M. Lee 20 T. Kessell 21 C. Ridgers 22 B. Stevenson
Try: Stevenson
Con: Stevenson
Pen: Griffiths
Yellows: Mockford, Nutt
Referee: Michael Tutty
Touch Judges: Eric Woodman, Lloyd Jackson
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