McKAY RELIEVED AS PIRATES HOLD ON 05-09-2005
CORNISH Pirates' coach Jim McKay breathed a
huge sigh of relief after he watched his side record a narrow victory over Newbury
to preserve their winning start to the season.
The Pirates, who
opened up their campaign with a 40-20 victory at Doncaster , were made to fight
all the way by their Berkshire-based hosts, whose open style of rugby not only
caused problems for their Cornish visitors, but will surely pose a genuine threat
to others in this division.
However, tries from Richard Welding -
his third of the season - plus one for debutant Shaun James, both converted by
Lee Jarvis, who also kicked three penalties, alongside an effort from Tom Barlow
were enough to send the Cornish side home happy.
With Rotherham to
visit the Duchy this Sunday for the first-ever game at the new Kenwyn Stadium,
McKay knows some fine tuning needs to be done ahead of the game. The Australian,
however saw enough from his side's latest display to encourage him.
"We're
happy to get the four points," said McKay. "It was pretty tight at the end, but
the boys stuck at it and we got the win, which is the most important thing. Full
credit to Newbury for the part they played in the game. They moved the ball around,
like we thought they would, and they looked a dangerous side.
"I
thought this week was an improvement on the Doncaster game, but at times our execution
let us down again. There's still plenty for us to work on, but overall we created
a lot more opportunities this week."
The Pirates should be boosted
by the return of scrum-half Gavin Cattle for this weekend's game. The Welshman
has missed the opening two games because of a rib injury sustained in the friendly
with Newport-Gwent Dragons.
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