Cornish
Pirates 56 - Sedgley Park 14
23rd November 2008
YOG's View Of the Match
The Pirates have been threatening a BIG win for some time now, and unfortunately for Sedgely Park, it all came together for their visit.
Whilst recent scorelines might not have hinted at the Pirates improving form (a loss to Leeds, as well as only slim wins against Esher and Moseley), the final scores have not reflected how much the Pirates have been improving in recent weeks, both in ability and spirit. However on Sunday the skill and spirit were at last justifiably matched by the final score.
Like most, I believed a five point win against Sedgley Park was not just possible, but also vital, especially considering Plymouth's five point win the day before. However I did have some reservations, not for the win itself, but whether the Pirates could do it with five points.
Like previous seasons five point wins have been a relative rarity for the team, and my confidence was not improved by the days weather.
The day consisted of heavy showers, sometimes increasing to driving rain, and at other times driving hail, coupled with a finger numbing coldness. In short, not ideal weather for fast or controlled ball handling. And that was just the environmental difficulties. Added to this would be the RFU's stated preference of relegating the bottom five teams at the conclusion of this season's National One league.
Whilst Sedgely Park aren't exactly propping up the bottom of the table, they are within the RFU's drop zone, so it could be expected that they would be coming out with the attitude that they were playing with their Div-1 future at stake.
If this wasn't enough to make the result uncertain, the Pirates would be playing with a number of first choice players either unavailable because of international duty, injured/ill, or being rested because of niggles. There would be no Rhys Jones, Adryan Winnan, Rhodri McAtee, Nicky Griffith, Ed Fairhurst, Brucy, Rob, Mike, Scott, Joe ..
A win ? .. Definitely A five point win ? . Possibly.
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