Cornish Pirates

Newbury 15 Pirates 20
Saturday January 13th 2007
Report Mark Stevens

Pirates skipper Gavin Cattle praised the never-say-die attitude of his team-mates as they secured a last-gasp 20-15 victory over hosts Newbury.

For a third successive game, Jim McKay's Pirates had to come from behind to secure all four points at Monks Lane, this time it was hooker Viliami Ma'asi who came to their rescue with a late converted try.

The Tongan international's late intervention ensured the Cornish club not only headed home with a crucial away-day victory, but a win that elevated them to fourth in the table.

"It was another hard slog for us, but we'll take the four points," declared Cattle at the final whistle. "It was a bit like the last two weeks, the conditions were really tough and it levelled things out for both sides.

"I thought in the first half we played very well. We made quite a few line breaks, but just couldn't finish them off and turn the pressure into points. They [Newbury] played very well, especially in defence."

Having trailed to an early penalty from Newbury fly-half Tim Walsh, the Pirates slowly began to find their feet, their fresh impetus ignited by a crunching tackle from fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo.

The Pirates, however, were left infuriated on 17 minutes when a chip-kick over the top from winger Rhodri McAtee saw him cynically tripped en route to the try-line.

As the hearty visiting support called for not only a card, but a penalty try, referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts consulted his touch judge in relation to the incident, but deemed the offence only worthy of a penalty, which Di Bernardo slotted to level the match up.

It was a let-off for the home side, who then had to produce a stout rearguard action to keep the Pirates at bay. McKay's men tried with numerous attacks to find their way over the Blues try-line, but on each occasion they were held at bay.

Indeed, having absorbed strong Pirates pressure, Newbury then pulled off the ultimate sucker punch five minutes before the break.

Stealing Pirates' ball through No.8 Tom Brown, Newbury broke out of defence through Cornishman Mal Roberts and David Rees to get within ten metres of the visiting line. Although the initial foray proved fruitless for Newbury, the home back-row helped recycle the ball at pace, where Australian Walsh collected and dived over for the opening try, which he also converted.

The score clearly riled the Pirates, who deservedly drew level in stoppage time. A thunderous clearance out of his 22 by Di Bernardo did not appear to be causing too many problems, but when Newbury knocked on, McAtee collected up the ball before feeding fellow Welshman Steve Winn to cross for his second try of the season.

Di Bernardo's successful conversion was the last meaningful action of the half, which finished with both sides locked at 10-10.

Although Di Bernardo failed with an early penalty attempt, the Argentinian playmaker atoned on 51 minutes with a sublime kick which gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the game.

Newbury, however, were far from finished and they regained the initiative just past the hour mark when Di Bernardo's intended clearance was charged down by Brown, allowing Fijian Isau Damudamu to win the race to the line and score, Walsh obliging with the additional two points.

Replacements aplenty flowed from both sides, but it was the Pirates who set about undoing their latest reverse with a grandstand finish.

Roared on by an army of supporters, the game was all but up when a line-out inside the Newbury 22 offered them a final throw of the dice. Although initially halted, the visitors applied the shove once more, Ma'asi was eventually credited with the all-important touchdown, converted by Di Bernardo.

Next up for the Pirates is Sunday's EDF Cup clash at home to Moseley, a game Cattle and Co cannot wait to get stuck into.

Newbury 15

Tries - Walsh, Damudamu
Conversion - Walsh
Penalty - Walsh

Newbury:
M Roberts; D Rees (G Barden 80), M Ireland, A James, M Nutt; T Walsh, D Smaje (K Bingham 76)
R Faulkner, A Dalgleish, R Brown (T Radbourne 78); G Hayter (capt), A Harris (J Chance 48)
R Thorpe (I Damudamu 48), C Morgan, T Brown.

Replacements (not used): G Cooper, S Robinson.

Pirates 20

Tries - Winn, Ma'asi
Conversions - Di Bernardo 2
Penalties - Di Bernardo 2

Pirates:
A Winnan; R McAtee, S Winn (S Parsons 78), D Bell, J Hylton; A Di Bernardo, G Cattle (capt);
G Anderson (P Joyce 54-64), N Makin (V Ma'asi 64), D Seal (Joyce 71); H Senekal, J Beardshaw
S McKeen (C Cracknell 38), I Motusaga, T Cowley (M Evans 64)

Replacements (not used): R Wells, S Hobson.

Referee: L Apgeraint-Roberts (RFU)

Attendance: 915