Cornish Pirates

British Irish Cup Round 3

Saturday 13th February 2010

This win for the Pirates at Plymouth Albion had been a long time coming – the last victory at the Brickfields was on Boxing Day 2005 – so it was no surprise that the team and supporters were in buoyant and celebratory mood at the eventual sound of the final whistle.

The attendance for this British & Irish Cup encounter was lowly, especially considering this was a cross-Tamar local 'derby clash.

However, for those who made the effort to watch this game live on a cold and dry afternoon, it demanded attention throughout.

During the warm up both teams wore T-shirts in support of Rotary's 'End Polio Now' campaign, before kick-off there was a minute's silence to respect the passing of two Plymouth Albion supporters, plus three Pirates: John Barnes, Tony Stevenson and Lance Corporal Darren Hicks who two days earlier was killed in Afghanistan.

After the Pirates kicked the game off, Albion kept possession and worked their way purposefully and with control into the Pirates half. As their pack edged closer to the '22' in the left hand quarter of the field, wing Liam Gibson joined the action and helped maintain the momentum. Then, when a suitable platform had been set, the ball was fired back to skipper and fly-half Kieran Hallet who made no mistake with his drop goal attempt.

From the restart the Pirates reaction looked positive, as they attacked with confidence. Skipper Gavin Cattle called the shots, and from a scrum to the right of the posts the ball was fed to fly-half Jonny Bentley who, with a couple of clever steps and a dollop of determination, appeared to make it to the line, only for the ball to be nudged forward as he stretched to score.

When the ball was carried into contact off the scrum that followed, an Albion player was penalised for not releasing on the ground, enabling Pirates full-back Rob Cook to level the scores with a simple penalty.

Tongan centre Sione Tu'ipulotu impressed when the Pirates were beaten 16-8 at the Brickfields last October, and he was showing early in this game that he would once again demand attention. Opening up the Pirates defence, his good work enabled flanker Sean-Michael Stephen and a busy Gibson to threaten, but Bentley timed his cover tackle perfectly to prevent a possible score.

Making his first appearance for the season following injury, centre Tom Luke was keen to test himself in contact, besides using his kicking ability from hand to post Albion back into their half. Wing Rhodri McAtee, with a kick and chase, provided the Pirates with further yardage as they pressed at the scoreboard corner.

The home side did well to hold the threat, and after working their way back upfield through the efforts of lock Tyler Hotson and Tu'ipulotu, a penalty was awarded which Hallett successfully slotted from thirty metres out.

Making a number of mistakes as they tried to impose themselves, the Pirates went further behind just before the break when a second well-struck penalty from Hallett, kicked from just inside the Pirates half, gave his side a 9-3 points half-time lead.

If the Pirates needed inspiration in the second half, then it was No. 8 Blair Cowan who set the example time and time again, quickly making at least four strong carries as the Pirates zigzagged all the way to Albion's line. A try looked about to be scored in the corner on the left, but again at a crucial moment the ball was spilled forward.

Nine minutes into the second half lock Mike Myerscough came off the bench to make his long-awaited debut for the Pirates. Having cruelly been injured all season, he was desperate to at last be back in action, and he quickly impressed.

'Derby' matches between the two teams are always hotly contested, and this one was no different. Canadian international Stephen and Pirates hooker Dave Ward were involved in a contretemps in the first half, and they were now at it again, but this time given a talking to by referee Mr. Gammage.

A penalty from Cook made the scoreline 6-9, but after Hotson was yellow-carded it was sensed that now was the time for the Pirates to take advantage and perhaps create an opportunity and score a try that would give them the lead.

Good play from the Pirates, with replacement prop Carl Rimmer and McAtee well involved, looked to deliver the try sought, but again the ball was knocked on at the line.

However, playing with confidence, and with clean line-out ball won by Ben Gulliver on the left, the Pirates pack gathered as a potent unit and drove Albion back all of twelve metres, it a shunt that ended with replacement prop Scott Franklin a try-scorer.

After Cook added the difficult conversion to the try scored by a recently reinvigorated Franklin, it was clear that and increasingly noisier crowd were in for a tense finale, and they were.

As the game entered what seemed like an endless spell of injury-time, Albion threw everything they had at their opponents, and when scrum-half Ed Lewsey found space a try looked certain for replacement centre Steve Johns. Somehow, however, the Pirates held tight as the penalty count against them rose still higher, and they even went down to fourteen men when Ward was yellow-carded.

That they ultimately held out for a deserved win was a testament to their fitness and team spirit, which supporters can expect to see more of as the business end of the season beckons.

Plymouth Albion:
M. Lee, G. Kingdom, M. Hopper, S. Tu'ipulotu (S. Johns 66), L. Gibson
K. Hallett (capt, A. Davies 76), E. Lewsey, W. Sprangle, S-M. Stephen, J. Waterhouse (D. Collier 76)
M. Lewis (T. Skelding 69), T. Hotson, R. Hopkins, J. Clark (G. Dawe 76), G. Porter (M. Rice 69).

Replacement (not used): D. Morton.

Yellow card: Hotson.

Cornish Pirates:
R. Cook, R. McAtee, M. Ireland, T. Luke (P. Devlin h/t), N. Jackson (W. Davies 76)
J. Bentley, G. Cattle (capt), B. Cowan (R. Prosser 80), S. Betty (M. Evans 76), C. Morgan, B. Gulliver,
L. Collins (M. Myerscough 49), R. Brits (S. Franklin 50), D. Ward, R. Storer (C. Rimmer 52).

Yellow card: Ward.

Scorers:-

Plymouth Albion – pens: Hallett (2); drop goal: Hallett.

Cornish Pirates – try: Franklin; con: Cook; pens: Cook (2).

Referee: D. Gammage (RFU).

Attendance: 2,413.