Cornish Pirates

Cornish Pirates v Bedford
Sunday October 22nd 2006 kick Off 1430

Having docked back into port with maximum bounty from their last two away-days, the Cornish Pirates return to familiar surroundings at Camborne this Sunday determined to reap yet more rich rewards.

Jim McKay's side head into this weekend's tussle with visiting Bedford Blues not only buoyed by victories over Doncaster and Sedgley Park , but with their ranks swelled with an additional new ship-mate.

Towering lock James Inglis arrived in the Duchy earlier this week on a season-long loan from Premiership side NEC Harlequins, while talk is the Cornish club are poised to add yet another newcomer in the coming days ahead.

Certainly the arrival of 20-year-old Inglis, who stands at 6'5 tall and weighs in at 17½ stone, is a welcome boost for the Pirates, who have made no secret of their bid to add yet more grunt to their pack of forwards.

McKay said: "We're very happy to have James on board until the end of the season. He's a young bloke that is keen to develop and he sees coming to us as part of that development. "He's a good player and his arrival will help add some really good competition for places in the squad. That in itself is a great motivator for the player and everyone else in the squad." However, with locks Joe Beardshaw and Heino Senekal providing a superb pairing in the Pirates engine-room this term, breaking into the starting line-up will be far from easy. Nambian international Senekal underlined his impressive form by claiming two of the Pirates nine tries they scored at Sedgley Park last Saturday.

Coach Jim McKay

That victory was the Cornish side's first in three visits to the Manchester-based club, but it was a result which clearly satisfied their Australian coach.

"Last week was very satisfying, especially as our last two visits there had ended in defeat," said McKay. "The attitude and commitment of the boys was spot on, as it was the previous week at Doncaster .

"However, that was last week and that's gone now. The focus now has to be on this weekend, Bedford , which is a very, very tough game for us.

"They have some very dangerous players, people like Matt Allen in the centre, [Jon] Phillips in the second row, Chris Johnson at hooker and James Pritchard, who can play either wing or full-back. These blokes offer them a very good spine to their team, while they've also got the luxury of being able to call upon some of the Leicester Under-19 and Under-21 players.

"They've shown already this season that they are among the top sides in this division. I think we are the top scorers in the division and they are third, so it shows both sides like to attack the game as much as possible."

McKay's assessment is backed up by the official statistics, which show the Pirates are National One's top attackers with 245 points already this term. Next best are Rotherham (236) and Bedford (230).

Defensively, the Cornishmen are also top-dogs having conceded just 95, the same as Rotherham and eight better than Plymouth Albion.

However, that defence is sure to come under attack against a Blues side, who warmed up for their trip to the Duchy by claiming the notable scalp of Leeds Tykes [25-21) a week ago.

Along with the addition of Inglis, the Pirates have added both Chris Cracknell and Henry Barratt to last weekend's squad. Jon Hylton (concussion) and Dan Seal (knee) remained sidelined, however.

Pirates

Adryan Winnan, Rhodri McAtee, Duncan Roke, Duncan Bell, Lewis Vinnicombe
Alberto Di Bernardo, Gavin Cattle (c), Matt Evans, Iva Motusaga, Stan McKeen
Joe Beardshaw, Heino Senekal, Sam Heard, Viliami Ma'asi, Alan Paver.

Adryan Winnan 15	Rhodri McAtee 14	Duncan Roke 13	Duncan Bell 12	Lewis Vinnicombe 11
Alberto Di Bernardo 10	Gavin Cattle (Capt) 9	Matt Evans 8	Iva Motusaga 7	Stan McKeen 6
Joe Beardshaw 5	Heino Senekal 4	Sam Heard 3	Viliami Ma’asi 2	Alan Paver 1

Replacements
Owen Hambly, Grant Anderson, Scott Hobson, Tim Cowley, James Moore, Steve Winn, Henry Barratt.

Owen Hambly	Grant Anderson	Scott Hobson	Tim Cowley	James Moore
	Steve Winn	Henry Barratt Centre/Wing

Bedford

Ben Patston, Craig Moir, Ollie Dodge, Matt Allen (c), James Pritchard, Ross Broadfoot, Dom Malone,
Ben Pienaar, Sacha Harding, Nic Strauss, Jon Phillips, Marc Comb, James Graham, Chris Johnson, Matt Volland.

Replacements
Chris Whitehead, Dan Cole, Ben Alexander, Arthur Brenton, Adam Kettle, Karl Dickson, Tom Youngs.

Referee - Mr. Gareth Copsey