| 'Dragons' Just A Little Hot | ||||||||||
| Cornish Pirates 13 Gwent Dragons 21 Newport Gwent Dragons, one of the four Welsh regional teams, have made made it a habit to travel to Cornwall for a pre-season 'friendly'. Last Saturday's was their fourth such visit in just five years, with the Pirates keen to record a first ever win against opponents who they had ran close in their last two contests. The Dragons, though not a full strength selection, had scraped a win against the Cornish All Blacks at Polson Bridge earlier in the week, & there was no doubt that coach Paul Turner was expecting a much tougher examination against the Cornish Pirates who had impressed in their opener against Leicester Tigers.
On a dull and occasionally wet August day, with conditions slippery underfoot, Camborne-born Welsh international lock Luke Charteris led the Dragons out, followed after by a Pirates side showing two changes in their line-up from the one that ran out against Leicester Tigers. Peter Cook took over from the injured Ala Paver at loose-head prop, and James Moore was a late call on the wing for Rhodri McAtee. Applying early pressure at the top left corner of the ground, the Dragons opened the scoring in just the fourth minute, hooker Steve Jones burrowing over for a try converted by fly-half Aled Thomas.
Further good play from the home side, this time with lock Bruce Cumming to the fore, supported by Steenson and his half-back partner Richard Bolt, gave hope that the Pirates could create a score that would given them a half-time lead, but their efforts were foiled, though not before Winnan was deserving of a 'star moment' award when he bravely cradled a lofted ball on the run and then slid along the slippery surface before somehow regaining his feet - to a spontaneous applause.
During the interval John Berry, Managing Director of Cornwall Enterprise, with Julia Goldsworthy, the Liberal Democrat MP for Falmouth and Camborne, presented a 'Cornwall Blaze Marque' award to the Cornish Pirates. It was accepted on the club's behalf by Aliinu'u Koko, the highly prestigious award given in recognition of a business that is pushing Cornwall forward to the rest of the UK in a positive manner. Flanker Chris Cracknell replaced Sam Betty for the start of the second half, and soon made his mark with a break away that provided good midfield yardage. However, after the Pirates failed to take any advantage, the Dragons hit back in clinical fashion, wing Gareth Wyatt given too much space on the right which enabled him to blaze a trail for a try at the scoreboard corner which was converted by Thomas.
It was now time for the Cornish Pirates to satisfy their expectant supporters, talisman skipper Tim Cowley and his team seemingly happy to deliver, when a clever bout of passing and a fortuitous bounce of the ball ended with a try scored by Devlin and a conversion kicked by Steenson. Back to just a single point in it, and with centre Nick Buckley and prop Johnny Williams making their debuts off the bench, there was hope that the Pirates could finish strongly to record their first ever win against the strong Welsh visitors, but it was not to be. Former Pirate Joe Bearman, whose impact on the game got stronger and stronger, supported by his back-row colleague Jamie Ringer, turned up the heat, and after replacement hooker Ben Daly ran like a rampaging flanker to score a converted try on the right, there was no way back. That the Dragons deserved their victory - there was no doubt - the Cornish Pirates though will have learnt much from the occasion. Losing Brian Tuohy with a hand injury in the first half was a set-back, and with no McAtee in the line-up the finishing fire-power had naturally been diminished. With less than two weeks to go to the start of the league season, there are naturally areas to work on, but there is still no reason why the team should feel nothing less than confident when they take on the Cornish All Blacks at Polson Bridge on Saturday 1st. September. Cornish Pirates Gwent Dragons Scorers:- Gwent Dragons Referee - Chris Sharp (RFU)
|
