| Pirates Make It To Twickenham | |||||
| Cornish Pirates 17 Plymouth Albion
9 IT'S probably only now that victorious Cornish Pirates supporters are finally coming back down Camborne Hill. Having danced their way up it Saturday evening following their side's 17-9 EDF Energy National Trophy semi-final victory over Plymouth Albion, the Pirates faithful have already started plotting their course for new and unchartered waters.
The destination for the soon to be assembled flotilla from the Duchy will be Twickenham, the home of English rugby, where Westcountry rivals Exeter Chiefs now lie in wait.
South African centre Regardt Van Eyk topped the charge sheet for the visitors at the final whistle. He crucially failed with three second-half penalties, while team-mates James Owen and Ed Barnes were also found guilty of spurning further attacking opportunities. Unlike back in December when they were able to swallow up all that the Pirates could throw at them before stinging them with some deadly counter-attacking, this time around Albion were unable to deliver a similar knockout blow. Clearly lessons had been learnt by the Pirates since that setback which, to date, remains their one downfall on home soil this season. Whereas previously the Cornishmen struggled to break down the formidable Albion defensive wall, on Saturday they varied their options with an attacking plan that involved some serious thrust upfront, combined with a sharp attacking edge behind. The change of tactic was clearly evident in a bright opening from the home side, who were forced into a late change after No.8 Tim Cowley was ruled out with a back injury. Matt Evans stepped in to fill the void at the back of the scrum, while Chris Cracknell was promoted to the bench. Albion too had to re-jig their line-up, an overnight bout of sickness meant hooker Richard Oxley was unable to feature, so James Owen was promoted to start and 47-year-old Graham Dawe took his place amongst the replacements. Despite the changes, the game started with a real bang - quite literally in the case of home centre Duncan Roke - who felt the full force of a high tackle from Albion's Keni Fisilau. The Tongan's head-high hit earnt him a reprimand from referee Martin Fox, who on six minutes punished Albion prop Scott Zimmerman for dropping a scrum, up stepped Pirates fly-half James Moore to break the deadlock with the first of his two successful penalties. Roke's painful introduction to the game was to get no better, the experienced back was forced off with just 11 minutes on the clock after he picked up another heavy blow to his shoulder. With Roke sidelined, Welshman Steve Winn was sent on to partner Duncan Bell in the home midfield. But it was the latter who strayed offside on 18 minutes, gifting Van Eyk the chance to restore parity. Bell, however, quickly atoned for his earlier error. His excellent pursuit of Moore's hanging restart enabled the Pirates to regather the ball, he linked with Winn who, despite being halted just short of the line, was able to offload to the Pirates pack from which hooker Vili Ma'asi burrowed his way over. Moore added the conversion to put the Pirates 8-3 ahead. Albion's response, just like it had been
earlier, was rapid and soon brought them more reward, Van Eyk firing over a second
penalty on 22 minutes after the home side had been penalised for pulling down
a maul. Chances came and went for the home side, whilst Fisilau could again consider himself very fortunate not to be dispatched to the sidelines for a second ugly tackle, this time on Rhodri McAtee as he looked to cut in from the left flank. Either side of the break Moore had the chance to extend the Pirates' grip on proceedings. First he saw a penalty in stoppage time sail wide of the posts, then a drop-goal attempt fail to find its mark. The let-off seemed to ignite Albion who for a 15-minute period after that lay siege on the home line. Penalties aplenty flowed for the visitors, but sadly Van Eyk was unable to capitalise fully. Three successive penalties, the latter of which also brought about a yellow card for Bell, all failed to find their mark, before he finally fired his side in front for the first time on 61 minutes. Albion's advantage, however, was to prove shortlived as the Pirates - now boosted by the arrival of Di Bernardo following an injury to replacement Rhodri Wells - regained the initiative with a 40-metre penalty from Moore. Whereas Di Bernardo wasted little time in settling into his role at No.10, the decision-making of Albion counterpart Barnes was either predictable or, in some cases, non-existent. By the time he was eventually benched two minutes from time, Di Bernardo had already edged the Pirates ever closer to the final with the first of his two drop-goals. His second effort, however, was simply outstanding. With both sides pressing hard for possession, Moore whipped the ball back to the Argentine star who, a few metres inside his own half, plundered a sumptuous kick which would have graced any ground in the world. For Pirates supporters his last-gasp heroics were as good as anything Jonny Wilkinson served up for England during their World Cup winning campaign. The question is now: "Can he deliver in the final itself?" Cornish Pirates 17 Try - Ma'asi A Winnan; R McAtee, D Roke (S Winn 12), D Bell, J Hylton; J
Moore, Replacements (not used): C Cracknell, J Inglis. Yellow Card: Bell Plymouth Albion 9 Penalties - Van Eyk (3).
N Saumi; W Neethling (T Arscott 78), R Van Eyk, K Fisilau, N Sestaret; E Barnes
(A Cruickshanks 78) Replacements (not used): M Newman, G Evans, G Dawe, B Stroud, M Lewis. Referee: M Fox (RFU).
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