CORNISH Pirates coach Jim McKay admitted his
side's victory over Otley may not have been pretty, but it was highly effective
as they returned to winning ways at Cross Green.
Tries
from forwards Joe Beardshaw and Tim Cowley, together with a penalty from Welsh
fly-half Lee Jarvis, proved enough to ensure the four points headed the way of
the Duchy visitors, who were looking to bounce back to winning ways following
successive league defeats to Sedgley Park and Harlequins.
After a
tense opening, Beardshaw broke the game's deadlock with the first try on 15 minutes,
the towering lock driven over by his fellow forwards after an initial catch-
and-drive move had been halted by the home side.
Jarvis failed
with the conversion, as well as a penalty on the stroke of half-time as tempers
between the two side began to become frayed. Recalled Pirates prop Dan Seal saw
yellow for scuffling with an Otley opponent, while the Yorkshire club had flanker
Scott Connor sent-off by referee Steve Lander for head-butting.
With
the man advantage, the Pirates extended their lead on 45 minutes when No.8 Cowley
grabbed their second score of the afternoon, rounding off a well-rehearsed line-out
move.
Cowley's celebrations, however, were curtailed some ten minutes
later when he became the second Pirate to be shown a yellow card. And it was whilst
he was off the field that Otley claimed their only points of the game, winger
Waisale Sovatabua landing a try, which was converted by Robin Kitching.
However, any hopes of an Otley comeback were quickly thwarted when Jarvis
fired over a 63rd-minute penalty to wrap up victory.
Afterwards McKay
said: "It was a pretty ugly win, but one we definitely needed after the last couple
of games. Normally we like to win and have a good performance to go with it, but
on this occasion it was the result, not necessarily the performance which was
the most important thing.
"We came up here with a really positive
mindset and the attitude of the boys was first class. I know we bombed a few chances
along the way, but overall we pretty much dominated in most areas.
"The
pack went very well, they really fronted up, while Jarvs kept them penned back
well with his kicking, which was good. Like I said, it wasn't a pretty win, but
it was very effective and we'll take it."
Otley 7
Try - Sovatabua; Conversion - Kitching
Cornish Pirates 13
Tries - Beardshaw, Cowley;
Penalty - Jarvis
Otley: R Kitching; K Dench, R Whatmuff,
P Mooney, W Sovatabua; C Hyndman (I Shuttleworth 50), D Scully (capt, A Brown
42); J Wring, B Steele (M Luffman 46), K Fullman; J Oakes, H Parr (P Williams
53); S Connor, N Bland (R Pike 72), M Stockdale (J Tiffany 66). Replacement (not
used): A Walker.
Red Card: Connor
Pirates:
M Jess; R Welding, D Roke, W Kelly, K James; L Jarvis, G Cattle (capt); A Paver,
N Makin (V Ma'asi 58), D Seal (D Parkes 58); H Senekal, J Beardshaw; J Bearman,
S Betty
(A Nicholls 40 Parkes 41-50, M Evans 72), T Cowley. Replacements
(not used): N Chivers, S Peters, S Hockings.
Yellow Cards: Seal,
Cowley.
Referee: S Lander (RFU)
Attendance: 749
