By John Wilkinson
January 12 2007

The match reports for both the emphatic Nottingham win and the narrow Cornish Pirates loss from John Wilkinson at the Coventry Telegraph.

 

Cornish Pirates 16 Coventry 15

Jan 8 2007

 

Coventry came within a few minutes of ending their away drought with a battling performance against title-chasing Pirates in the wind and rain at Camborne yesterday.

 

Dominating the first half with the elements in their favour, they probably needed more of a cushion than a 10-0 lead to take into the second period.

 

But although the expected onslaught came, it was beginning to subside by the start of the final quarter after Kurt Johnson's second try of the game, and his 98th in league rugby, had given Cov a two-score advantage to defend again.

 

Ultimately, however, the game hinged on a couple of disputed calls which saw Pirates grab a converted try and a penalty to win the game, with replacement Cov hooker Stuart

 

Friswell harshly picking up his third yellow card in two games when penalised for playing the ball from an offside possession when Pirates lock Heino Senekal appeared to knock on.

 

Cov emerged with a bonus point for the third successive away game, but this time more than the others it was scant consolation.

 

"I can't fault the boys today and to come all this way and perform like we did in the conditions was outstanding," said coach Dave Addleton.

 

"It was always going to be hard in the second half against the wind, but we stuck with them, got the try, and the boys played really well.

 

"We should have come away with more points from the first half, we were getting into their 22 and working hard and again we should have kept better hold of the ball at times.

 

"But they were making mistakes as well in the conditions.

 

"A couple of decisions went against us at the wrong time and Stuart was unlucky, things aren't going his way at the moment, but they should all be proud of what they did.

 

"They are down at the minute, but we'll get them back up for Plymouth on Saturday."

 

Cov had first use of the strong wind and went in front after three minutes when Myles Dorrian kicked cleverly into the home 22 and Kurt Johnson beat opposite number Jonny Hylton to the ball to run in from 15 metres, Ben Russell converting.

 

With the rain in their backs Cov continued to press, but the forwards lost possession on the Pirates line from a series of close-range pick and goes.

Kieran Geraghty and Dorrian combined to force Pirates to concede a five-metre scrum , but Tom Johnson was smothered as he picked up and drove for the line.

Russell's weaving run into the 22 put Pirates back under pressure, and when they were penalised in front of the posts the Cov skipper made no mistake with his kick for a 10-0 lead after 27 minutes.

It was injury-time before Pirates reached their first attacking position in the opposition 22, but Cov's defence held firm against a series of line-out drives.

Alberto Di Bernardo kicked two penalties after the restart as the going got tough for Cov in the strengthening gale, but Pirates were struggling to find a cutting edge and Cov worked their way back upfield to grab a potentially decisive second try when Henno Venter dispossessed Gavin Cattle in the home 22 and the ball was moved wide to the left where Kurt Johnson squeezed over for his second.

Cov had their tails up, but they were stung midway through the final quarter when Pirates stole possession - whether legally was a point of debate - in their 22 and Di Bernardo kicked the length of the field.

Russell chased back but had to concede the five-metre scrum and Tim Cattle scrambled over at the base to touch down with Di Bernardo converting.

Three minutes later it got worse for Cov when Friswell was yellow carded, and Di Bernardo found a firm enough place in the ground to kick the winning penalty from 40 metres.

Cornish Pirates: Try Cattle (67); conversion Di Bernardo; penalties Di Bernardo 3 (44, 50, 72).

Cov: Tries K Johnson 2 (3, 59); conversion Russell (3); penalty Russell (27).

Cornish Pirates: Winnan; Moore, Barratt (McAtee 69), Bell, Hinton; Di Bernardo, Cattle; Anderson (Samo 75), Makin (Ma'asi 61), Seal, Senekal, Beardshaw, McKeen, Motusaga (Cracknell 61), Cowley (Evans 75).

 

 

Addleton gets Cov going again

1^st Jan 2007

 

 

Rugby director Phil Ager handed the plaudits to forwards coach Dave Addleton after Coventry's impressive 29-12 win over Nottingham at the Butts Park Arena.

Badly beaten at Pertemps Bees four days earlier, Cov bounced back to score five tries in the rain and mud as they stretched their winning home run in National Division One to six matches on the back of a dominant pack display.

"Dave did a terrific job with the forwards today and it was a great result," said Ager, who cancelled a scheduled day off and called the squad in for an extra session on Wednesday in the aftermath of the Boxing Day defeat.

"Rugby is all about performance, and if you set yourself a standard to have to play every game to it as well as always be looking to move up a level. Today was much more like how we should be playing."

Ager and Addleton changed Cov's pre-match build-up for a game which they led 29-0 before conceding two tries in the final minutes.

We made it more physical with a lot more bag work and hits," said Ager. "They are going to be taking big hits 15 minutes later anyway, and the way they came out and played showed they need it to get them going.

"I was a bit disappointed by the last ten minutes when I think we switched off as I really wanted a nil scoreline, but I'll let the players enjoy this and then bring them down again on Tuesday."