Cornish Pirates

POOL A

Cornish Pirates 17 Plymouth Albion 0

Pool A is wide open after the Cornish Pirates completed their third successive victory this season against Plymouth Albion in the mud and rain at Camborne.

Website match report www.cornish-pirates.com/match_reports

Reaction from Chris Stirling and Graham Dawewww.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

Bedford Blues 17 Bristol 16

If anybody in the Bristol camp thought that their place in the Championship final was all but secured they have been forced to think again after going down to a determined Bedford side at Goldington Road on Saturday.

The Blues raced into an early 17-0 lead after James Pritchard had set them on their way with an early penalty and Dan Norton had been denied a certain try for the visitors by the intervention of Will Chudley.

Two converted tries in five minutes midway through the first half from Brendan Burke rocked Bristol and although they clawed their way back into the contest with a Jarvis penalty they had already become victims of the infamous Bedford slope.

Despite raising their game considerably in the second half Bristol had left themselves just too much to do. Two penalties from Jarvis and a conversion to add to Redford Pennycook`s 55^th minute try made for a nervy finale as Pritchard missed two penalty attempts to make the game safe.

Jarvis fluffed his lines when presented with a potentially match-winning drop goal at the death leaving the Blues top of Pool A after two games.

Full report /www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk

Bristol reaction www.thisisbristol.co.uk

POOL B

Doncaster Knights 25 Nottingham 15

The Knights bounced back from their disappointing defeat at London Welsh scoring three tries as they over-powered Nottingham at Castle Park.

Ian Johnstone`s converted try in the third minute gave the Green and Whites the perfect start only for Bevon Armitage to reply almost immediately for the home side. James Brooks` conversion levelled the scores.

Brooks and Dave Jackson then exchanged penalties before wing Oli Goss scored a second try for the Knights after 18 minutes to give them a 15-10 lead.

Nottingham took the game firmly to the Knights after the break but Brooks` second penalty after 49 minutes extended the home lead. Nic Rouse finally claimed the points Nottingham’s pressure warranted with their second try of the game but Jackson was unable to convert the score leaving the Knights ahead by 18-15.

Five minutes into stoppage time Simon Grainger muscled over the Nottingham line for the winning score with Brook converting to deny Glenn Delaney’s side a losing bonus point.

Exeter Chiefs 32 London Welsh 6

Three tries in the final six minutes of this contest thwarted what had been a robust challenge from the Exiles as the Chiefs won by a more than flattering margin.

The game was delicately balanced at 13-6 to the home side after an early Steenson penalty and converted try from Neil Clark had been pegged back by two Aled Thomas penalties.

The Welsh continued to press hard but with fly-half Gordon Ross not at his best struggled to exert any real control on the contest.

Tom Johnson seized the opportunity for a second Exeter try after 74 minutes and suddenly the floodgates opened. James Scaysbrook and Neil Alcott claimed further tries in the closing minutes as Steenson slotted a brace of conversions.

Match report www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

POOL C

Coventry 18 Birmingham & Solihull 22

Time is running out for Phil Maynard’s Coventry side after the Bees recorded only their second win of the entire season at the Butts Park Arena.

The defeat leaves Coventry bottom of Pool C with a must-win match against Moseley next up for them on Saturday.

Rob Connolly’s 16^th minute converted try got the Bees underway before James Hall replied with the first of three Coventry tries. Simon Hunt increased the lead for the visitors as he found a huge gap in the home defence and touched down under the posts.

Henno Venter reduced the arrears to 10-14 as he scored three minutes before the break only for Connolly to claim his second score in stoppage time as he went over in the corner.

A Ben Russell penalty and a well taken try from Phil MacKenzie brought Coventry back to within a point after 53 minutes but they couldn`t find the crucial score to take control of the contest.

Simon Hunt’s 67^th minute penalty regained the initiative for the Bees as their great escape continues.

Match report www.solihullnews.net

Moseley 29 Rotherham Titans 30

Moseley spectacularly imploded during a dramatic second half at Billesley Common as the Titans scored twenty unanswered points to recover from a 29-10 deficit with 44 minutes played.

In a crucial twenty minute spell Moseley went missing in action allowing the Titans pack to take complete control. Seventeen points made the game winnable and Mike Whitehead put the cherry on the cake for the visitors as he slotted a penalty five minutes from time to secure victory.

Whitehead put the first points on the board after just two minutes with an opening penalty before Andy Reay and Craig Voisey exchanged converted tries.

But then Moseley struck with three tries in ten first half minutes as Chevvy Pennycook, Tristan Roberts and Justin Mensah-Coker all crossed the Titans line. Two conversions from Roberts and his penalty after 44 minutes completed the scoring for the Midlanders.

Neil Chivers, Jon Feeley and Ross Batty all claimed tries as the Titans stormed back into the game before Whitehead`s crucial late penalty.

Full report and Moseley reactionwww.birminghampost.net

The views expressed by High Tackle are his own.