| waterloo 19 (6) Cornish Pirates 16 (10) - 09/09/06 | ||||||||
Pirates Pay The Penalty At Waterloo THE Cornish Pirates were left licking their wounds and somewhat frustrated after seeing underdogs Waterloo snatch a dramatic win at Blundellsands six minutes from time with a Steve Nutt penalty.
Australian coach Jim McKay - like his team - was left somewhat shell-shocked and disappointed, but prepared to admit that it had not been his side's day. " Waterloo deserved the win." he remarked afterwards. "We didn't play to our potential, but the credit for that was to the home side because they destroyed our possession and slowed the ball down. "They made the important tackles and kicked the goals when the opportunities came. Waterloo simply wanted to win the game more than we did, although we expected to win. "We came up here on Thursday and prepared well enough, but the initiative was taken away from us by the opposition."
No one did better than Waterloo's South African-born scrum-half Chad Erskine, who making his debut before jetting off to face Uruguay next week in a Rugby World Cup qualifying game. Erskline injected new life into the home side and on this showing it comes as no surprise that having qualified residentially, he could well feature in the USA 's bid to reach the finals next autumn in France . However, having opened up their National One season with a convincing 39-0 success over Otley last Sunday, the Pirates were expected to dominate much of the set-pieces and possession. Conditions were nigh-on perfect except for a a slight wind that the Cornish visitors had the benefit of in the first period, which was evenly contested with both packs endeavouring to get the upper hand.
Waterloo fly-half Steve Nutt hit the woodwork early on, but just on the half-hour mark the Pirates edged ahead when scrum-half Gavin Cattle touched down, Di Bernardo adding the extras. Minutes later the Italian A international increased the Pirates lead with a penalty, before Nutt cancelled it out with one himself. Then a second Nutt penalty just before the break reduced the margin further. After 49 minutes Nutt was again in action with his boot punishing the visitors for another indiscretion. However, the significant move came after 51 minutes when South African winger Jan DeVenter pulled off a devastating tackle before appearing on his opposite wing to force his way over the line to snatch the lead for the first time. Nutt added the conversion superbly. The Pirates certainly did not lie down and a couple of penalties from Di Bernardo soon brought the scores level.
The final seven minutes were pulsating as the visitors launched a series of attacks. Indeed, they looked as if they were going to break the deadlock with a three-man overlap. But a timely interception foiled their plot and a further indiscretion enabled Nutt to put over the vital kick. Waterloo 19 Waterloo:
Pirates:
Referee: A Small (RFU) Thanks to Ross Cotton for photos |
