By Dick Straughan
March 11 2007

If there were any purists at Camborne this afternoon they might have enjoyed this dogged encounter. A real curate`s egg of a contest, it will be remembered for some Rhodri McAtee brilliance, a huge performance from Tim Cowley, the incessant whistle of Mr Copsey, and little else. It is increasingly taboo to criticise match officials in rugby but Gareth Copsey dominated proceedings today never allowing either side to build any momentum. In fact he had a stinker. A failure to clamp down on the simmering undercurrent of infringements in the tight led to four players being sin-binned in second-half stoppage time, as a scrappy match finally unravelled at the seams.

With spring edging ever closer the sun shone throughout at Camborne this afternoon, but a biting wind thundering in from the south west proved telling. The omens were not good. This was never going to be a pretty affair.

Jim McKay, perhaps with one eye on forthcoming fixtures, drafted in Steve Winn in place of Duncan Bell, Nick Makin for Vili Ma`asi and James Inglis for Joe Beardshaw. The continued absence of Alberto Di Bernardo meant another start for James Moore, and with the wind at his back in the first half he excelled.

Inside ten minutes the Pirates led 6-0 after they had twice demolished the Nottingham rearguard in front of their own posts. It was just the start the Pirates had wanted with Moore comfortably slotting the kicks.

Nottingham on a poor run of form and desperate for success in the south-west looked ponderous. Their kicking into the wind uncertain and their back line moves frequently running into trouble around the fringes as the support play faded away. In the 22nd minute full-back Roman Nirmalandran was smothered in full flight on half-way by a great big Namibian bear hug from Heino Senekal. The ball popped loose to the grateful Rhodri McAtee who sprinted off along the touch line for an inevitable try. Moore added the extras for 13-0.

The Pirates attacked at will for the next five minutes. Moore`s booming touchfinders coupled with Cowley and Motusaga`s excellent work in the loose ensured a ready supply of possession. When Moore`s diagonal break towards the Clubhouse corner and mercurial inside flip pass found McAtee coming in off the wing, try number two was a formality. Again Moore converted and at 20-0 the game was as good as over.

Or so we thought. Nottingham`s much feted forwards rallied from their slumber and inexplicably the Pirates abandoned their attacking intentions and allowed themselves to be drawn into a slog up front on a par with trench warfare. Mr Copsey chose to ignore the repeated misdemeanours up front and in the line out, and when the Nottingham front row popped up to a man as they lost a scrum late in the half the counter-attacking Pirates were hauled back for a handling error. Frustration grew along with the error count and suddenly the visitors were camped on the Pirates line. Home scrum-half Gavin Cattle rolled away in agony from the conflict with a worrying elbow injury, and as the Pirates re-organised a twelve man drive put Luke Sherrif over from close range.

The loss of Cattle right on half-time gave Rhodri Wells a huge opportunity to stake a claim for the number 9 shirt. He did not disappoint. In a stop start second period his terrier-like aggression frequently caused consternation in the Nottingham defence as he tried in vain to re-inject some much needed pace into the game. Indeed Wells` neck will probably be an inch or two longer this evening such was the level of attention he received from the Nottingham pack.

Former Pirate Tom Barlow reduced the arrears to 20-8 from a penalty with half an hour to go, but there was little real likelihood of either side troubling the scoreboard operators after that. Chances came and went at both ends with handling errors and solid defence winning every time. Tim Cowley tackled everything that moved in a green shirt and justifiably earned the man of the match accolade. James Moore put in some thumping hits of his own whilst Steve Winn never stopped trying to bash holes in the Nottingham ranks.

In the dying seconds Lewis Vinnecombe could have sealed the victory for the Pirates as Moore`s sharp pass inside Josh Kay left the home winger two yards from glory, but the pass was knocked on and the moment gone much to Vinnecombe`s obvious disappointment.

And so it was to stoppage time and a cameo of indiscretion when the problems Mr Copsey had stored up for himself all match came back to haunt him. Frustrated at being penned back in their own half so late in the game the Nottingham pack decided to assert themselves one last time. Nick Rouse set the ball rolling as he saw yellow for repeatedly dancing on a prone Pirate in front of Mr Copsey. A spat between Senekal and Joe Duffy in which the latter was clearly the aggressor throwing a flurry of punches, saw both players carded on the say-so of the Touch Judge - Mr Jackson. Seconds later Tim Stannard went to the bin too after cynically clearing out Joe Beardshaw in the line out. That this offence took over eighty minutes to identify was a wonderment in itself.

With the contest now a shambles numerically Mr Copsey mercifully blew his whistle for the very last time. It was not pretty. It was frequently ugly, but for the Pirates it was another win.

PIRATES:- Winnan, McAtee, Roke, Winn, Vinnecombe, Moore, Cattle, Paver, Makin, Heard, Senekal, Inglis, Cowley, Motusaga, Evans, REPS - Wells, Hylton, Bell, Cracknell, Beardshaw, Ma`asi, Anderson

Tries - McAtee (2)
Cons - Moore (2)
Pens - Moore (2)

NOTTINGHAM:- Nirmalandran, Kay, Dodge, Molenaar, Thompson, Barlow, Springall, Parr, Loney, Hall, Raven, Rouse, Hammond, Sherrif, Stannard, REPS - Hopkins, Fowkes, Duffy, Montagu, Jackson, Stenhouse, Savage.

Try - Sherrif
Pen - Barlow

Referee - Gareth Copsey (RFU)