Cornish Pirates

Plymouth Albion 19 Cornish Pirates 9
Saturday April 7th 2007
Report By Dick Straughan | Behind The Scenes Slideshow

The Cornish Pirates rarely lose three in a row but this defeat at Brickfields has rounded off a miserable seven days for Jim McKay`s men.

That it took until deep into second-half stoppage time for Albion to seal the victory was the only surprise in a game they should have won more comfortably.

Dogged by injuries since their EDF Trophy triumph over Albion two weeks ago, McKay has had to use every resource at his disposal in order to field teams in subsequent fixtures. Yesterday saw the welcome return of most of his first choice line up but the team for the most part looked lacklustre, devoid of a cutting edge in midfield, and were badly hampered by a plague of individual handling errors.

Only Stan McKeen and Chris Cracknell stood out from the crowd for their tireless work-rate in defence and relentless ball carrying yardage. Jonny Hylton deserves an honourable mention in dispatches for his willingness to chase anything though he ran more often than not in vain. Slow ball from the forwards rarely made it to the wings as Cattle and Di Bernardo looked strangely ponderous behind the pack. Both meetings between the Pirates and Albion this season had been settled by the team who took their chances on the day. This match was no exception. Plymouth had the slight edge in the early exchanges and deserved the lead when Sestaret darted over from close range for his 27th try of the season. With Pirates defenders committed by a mammoth driving maul a score was inevitable. Van Eyk converted. Back came the Pirates and in probably their best period of the game attacked the Albion line repeatedly. They met a resolute wall of white shirts however and in desperation for points all too often chose wrong options or lost possession. Di Bernardo`s 28th minute penalty was scant reward for their efforts.

Chris Cracknell

Minutes later he sliced an easy pot at goal from close range and right on half time the hero who secured the Cup victory at Camborne with his two booming drop goals turned villain.

His woefully understruck midfield chip and chase over the Albion defence was swallowed up and recycled in an instant. With Pirates full-back Adryan Winnan still off the field with a leg injury, Tom Arscott was suddenly presented with acres of space to run into down the right flank and his mazey run tore through the floundering Pirates defence for a try under the posts. Again Van Eyk could not miss.

There was time for Di Bernardo to slot a second penalty leaving the game wonderfully poised at 14-6 at the break.

Three minutes into the second half Di Bernardo reduced the arrears further with another penalty after Albion had been caught offside. With one score between the sides the match remained on a knife edge to the very end. Van Eyk and Di Bernardo both wasting good opportunities with the boot to trouble the scorers.

The Pirates pressed hard for that crucial try as they marched towards the Albion line in the final ten minutes only to see indiscipline, basic mistakes and solid defence again destroy everything they tried. It was flat, slow and uninspiring stuff from the visitors. Graham Dawe`s team knew exactly what they had to do and once they secured possession themselves they marched deep into Pirates territory for the final act.

The Pirates pressed hard for that crucial try

Now unable to escape from their own twenty-two the exhuasted Pirates became increasingly desperate. Mr Rowden penalised every indiscretion and Albion`s unrelenting pressure finally saw a trademark driving maul crash over in the Clubhouse corner. Keni Fisilau credited with the try.

That Van Eyk missed again with the conversion was of no consequence as Mr Rowden called time to the delight of the Albion faithful. For the Pirates thoughts can now turn to their big day at Twickenham next Sunday. After three defeats on the road another failure is simply not an option for the Cornishmen.

PIRATES:
Winnan, Vinnecombe, Parsons, Winn, Hylton, Di Bernardo, Cattle, Evans, Cracknell, McKeen, Beardshaw, Inglis, Heard, Ma`asi, Paver, REPS:- Jones, Seal, Motusaga, Makin

Pens - Di Bernardo (3)

ALBION:
Saumi, Arscott, Van Eyk, Fisilau, Sestaret, Barnes, Lewsey, Lowrie, Thomas, Stroud, Hayes, Gulliver (c), Lewis, Zimmerman, Owen, Mathias, REPS:- Evans, Wiliams, Oxley, Smith, Childs, Newman, Neethling

Tries - Arscott, Sestaret, Fisilau
Cons - Van Eyk (2)

Referee - Ashley Rowden (RFU)

Attendance 5981

Behind The Scenes Slideshow