Things looked grim then as a typically abrasive Rotherham pack sniffed some parity at last; and maybe a vital victory to help their own honourable Championship cause. Storer rumbled on tank-like to fill the temporarily vacated place in the frontline at young winger Brights' expense; the section of crowd in the Clubhouse Corner in particular unaware of the events about to unfold.

A little over an hour and quarter earlier though, and such dramas had appeared unlikely as a Bright start (literally) in the opening minute eased any pre match nerves centred around the Yorkshiremens' genuine threat.

Tenth they may well have been coming into this fixture, but the number of losing bonus points accrued to date, spoke volumes of their undoubted competitiveness. Only seven days earlier after all, they'd nibbled away at a 21 point deficit to second placed Chiefs at Clifton Lane before eventually conceding 18-24. Since then and at the same venue, they'd completely smoked out the Bees' Hive with a masterclass in forwards play being rewarded with a 42-15 success. Indeed, such had been their dominance of the scrum that the man in the middle had had to issue a coded message to the Titan 8 to be "more sensible" as their opposites teetered on the edge of going completely AWOL.

Meanwhile back at the Rec.

Possession had been regained from Bentley's kick off, which swiftly saw the under pressure of late fly half, receive the ball back to make the telling break to cross the line with the old swagger seemingly back in business. Cook's conversion needed the assistance of vertical and horizontal woodwork alike from his touchline attempt. But this bizarre score set the right mindset for the Pirates intent no doubt on righting the wrongs of their previous outing. 7-0

And, for twenty minutes or so, it seemed as if Booker T's "Soul Limbo" would get another justified airing (this time), as they set about their business with the right mixture of flair and aggression.

A Cook penalty in the sixth minute eased the lead out to ten as the visitors struggled to repell all boarders. One brave soul (un-identified) found his physical encounter with a solid and onrushing red wall a little too much; no doubt leaving him confused as to why this wasn't Yorkshire when he finally came to.

Losing lock Dickenson soon after to a leg injury didn't help matters either, but with Hayter and Skurr still in the mix it was too early to carried away. Or was it?

At Clifton Lane the Pirate Pack's buckling at scrum time and the breakdown had been the sides' eventual downfall. And yet from the off it looked as if that particular nightmare had been erased with interest. Consequently further rewards were forthcoming. And soon.

With Bentley and Cattle orchestrating things nicely, a second try was delivered barely three minutes later, courtesy of young Cornish wing, Richard Bright. His first ever Championship try came as he scampered over wide out on the right via a perfectly timed offload by Devlin. Cooks' second conversion attempt missed the woodwork this time completely leaving the score at 15-0.

Cattle was next to come close as a typically sniping run from just outside the Rotherham 22, was ended only centimetres from the tryline. Betty arrived in Exocet mode (as ever) to take on the mantle but was adjudged to have been held up leaving Mr Debney little option but to point to the 5m line for an attacking scrum just to the left of the posts.

Rotherham creaked and both front rows popped up to take some air leading to a reset. The Titans wobbled even more noticeably this time which prompted the officials' left arm to indicate a penalty. As the ball then popped out at a rate of knots, Cattle pounced; but the scrum half couldn't outpace Debbers to the line. Thus for the second week on the bounce Penalty got onto the Pirates score sheet with the third try of game.

Cook found the space between the uprights this time, and with not even twenty minutes completed the hosts now had a 22 point cushion to play with. As it was to transpire they would need it and how!

The Titans of course are not the sort of side to let such piffling details to get in the way of a good fightback. In fact the print on their proverbial tin yells such matters out in bold typeface.

From their fourth restart, they at last began to enjoy some possession and territory as they prodded their opponents 22 with a reasonably big stick. For five minutes or so the Pirate bulkhead held as the gaps the size of the Helford Mouth that had been so apparent against Bees didn't materialise.

Mr Debney though was becoming increasingly perturbed with the home defence and began to ping a little too often for comfort. Two kickable chances were ignored by the visitors as Whitehead used the corners instead to see if the pack could find a more direct route. The ensueing 'catch n drives' promised and then delivered as prop Conroy opened the Titan account, which Whitehead duly added too. 22-7

Titan wing Feeley; sporting a huge bruise on his thigh, then finished a flowing move barely three minutes to dive over in the right corner to cause home alarm bells to ring that little bit more anxiously. Whitehead's pot drifted across the face of the sticks, but the leading margin had been halved plus with ten minutes of the period to go. 22-12

Prescott made way for O'Donnell from the Yorkshire bench five minutes later just as the Pirates appeared to have stemmed the flow. It had seemed an age but they began to find the time and space to press once more.

As half time beckoned and Rotherham's fire was gradually dampened down then, the Pirates bagged the bonus point following a determined individual effort from centre Devlin. In only his second outing of the season following long term injury, a line piercing run seemed to have been halted. Paul though was having none of this as tacklers were either shrugged off, or dragged over the line with him. They chose. Cook did the necessary from in front of goal. 29-12

Still there was time for one last effort from the Titans as they piled forward and set up another catch and drive, which No 8 Skurr benefitted by five from; to bring all the half's scoring to a close. 29-17 and the parallels with the Bees game were all to apparent.

The second period began relatively quietly though with only Batty's early withdrawal to make way for Kilbane to note.

A couple of Pirate attacks signalled intent with little real threat which perhaps was summed up by Cooks penalty miss in the ninth minute. Importantly though, no-one was as yet troubling the scorers which as time went by could work in the home sides favour if the Titans were then forced into throwing caution to the wind.

For the time being they remained patient and reliant on their pack to create something. Slowly but surely then, the balance of power swung back towards the South Yorkshire side but only with some encouragingly stern resistance.

Some brief respite came when Gulliver and Hayter exchanged 'details' which Mr Debney; following consultation with his assistant from the East Stand touchline, decided to give in the Pirate locks' favour. The Cornishmen cleared their lines but once again were denied a clear cut chance before being forced back onto the back foot much of which was down to Mr Debney's increasing distaste.

Something surely had to give as the third quarter dwindled into the past? It came in the shape of Rotherham born prop Paver, as he was adjudged to have come into a ruck from the side. Not a good thing as Sir had spoken with skipper Cattle about just this all too recently. And so, the Honourary Cornishman with the funny accent trudged off with head shaking and backward glances to his comrades' and concern for their plight written all over his face.

Play had already taken root in the Clubhouse Corner and replacement fly half Allen showed no reason to alter this state of affairs as he threw down the first gauntlet for the battle to come, by kicking to the same corner.

The Titan pack stepped up with growing confidence oozing from their body language, for the lineout to begin the confrontation that would ultimately decide the match. The inevitable catch and drive was met with fierce resistance that couldn't surely hold out, despite the men in red,black and whites' willingness to put their bodies literally on the line. But it did.

The first scrum of the offensive followed very quickly in Rotherham's favour. With the Pirate front row back up to it's quota but the team still obviously one body light. A score would surely follow in some form or other to bring the Titans right back into it?

Wave after wave of forward pressure from the visitors pounded the Pirate line; the pitch by now resembling the Somme or suchlike and no doubt giving Groundsman Colin the hint of a migraine. But. Crucially the minutes were ticking by and Mr Debney was, by and large, happier with Piratical methods.

Paves began to warm up for his return as yet another scrum was set and Rotherham's backs looked on from their various view points, no doubt resigned to their duty. Maybe some scraps could still come their way. Not a bit of it!

Their pack scented glory and kept it tight for one last effort before their advantage came to it's end. A series of pick and go's edged tantalisingly close to that whitewash, before surging into the pile of Pirate troops forming a human wall awaiting their arrival.

Sir's whistle trilled and his arm raised that for a split second signalled heartache and then joy as the home support roared it's approval at being awarded a defensive 5m scrum.

Bentley cleared their lines to give his team some respite and greet the returning prop with a level balance sheet in tact. Man of the match Brits made way as a consquence with Ward also coming into the fray for Elloway to provide the perfect re-inforcement.

Ten minutes still remained of course and plenty of time for Rotherham to find those crucial two scores. The Pirates though were bouyed by their defensive heroics and sensed there may still be a chance for them to make things safe. This despite a major blip, as Allen cut through their backline as if a knife through butter, handing Rhodes the simplest of conversions to bring them to within five; with five minutes now remaining.

Any tensions about to resurface were shortlived as the Pirates re-assuredly regained a grip to close out the game on a high. A great move down their left flank almost came off only to be halted deep into the Roth 22.

Pressure was maintained and after one or two further probes a final push by the forwards saw their strong maul head diagonally forwards to the right of the Titan posts. Camped now on the line, the Pirates came agonisingly close to a fifth try before Cattle received definite confirmation that this was the last play.

No need now for glory and with five points in the bag, the ball was only going one way. Out of the ground via his boot. Job done.

Cornish Pirates: 29
15 R. Cook 14 R. Bright 13 P. Devlin 12 M. Ireland 11 N. Jackson
10 J. Bentley 9 G. Cattle (Capt) 8 B. Cowan 7 S. Betty 6 C. Morgan
5 B. Gulliver 4 L. McGlone 3 R. Brits 2 R. Elloway 1 A. Paver.

Replacements:
16 R. Storer 17 D. Ward 18 P. Andrew 19 S. Pammenter 20 M. Evans 21 J. Doherty 22 S. Winn.

Tries: Bentley, Bright, Penalty, Devlin
Cons: Cook 3
Pen: Cook

Rotherham Titans: 24
15 B. Hunt 14 J. Feeley 13 K. Maggs 12 P. Gidlow 11 P. Swatkins
10 M. Whitehead (Capt) 9 M. Rhodes 8 J. Skurr 7 A. Kleeberger 6 S. Swindall
5 G. Hayter 4 S. Dickenson 3 B. Prescott 2 R. Batty 1 N. Conroy

Replacements: 16 A. O'Donnell 17 J. Kilbane 18 M. Challinor 19 R. Burrows 20 A. Barnes 21 T. Allen 22 N. Chivers

Tries: Conroy, Feeley, Skurr, Allen
Cons: Whitehead, Rhodes

Referee: Rob Debney
TJ1 Luke Pearce TJ2 Nigel Higginson

Attendance 2459