Championship Round 7
London Welsh 34 Cornish Pirates 10
Saturday 17th October
First Half Fire Too Hot For The Pirates
It might have been a little colder than of late, but breathing fire the London Welsh 'Dragons' turned up the heat in West London on Saturday, it clinically directed at their Cornish opponents.
With the jigsaw that is the Pirates squad still fragmented, this match was always going to be another stern test, and so it proved.
Before the game 'exile' supporters, who were meeting up with friends and family members from Cornwall, asked for injury updates, but there was little to report.
Full-back Wes Davies, who had missed the match against Bristol, was at least though making a welcome return, as was prop Alan Paver who was absent the previous week because of family reasons.
Witnessing the improved ground facilities at Old Deer Park, their team also immediately impressed when the match got underway.
Prop Michael Holford exemplified their qualities at the tackle area, whilst the backs also looked dangerous with ball in hand. An early thrust saw No. 8 Tom Brown threaten with ball in hand, but he was thankfully hauled down just short of the line.
The Pirates responded through Davies, centre Mark Ireland, and No. 8 Laurie McGlone, who each tried to make inroads into the London Welsh half. Young lock Alex Shaw, who is on loan from Sale and was making his first start in the Pirates line-up, also showed athletic pace when he took off on a run down the left touchline in front of the main grandstand.
It was actually the Pirates who had a chance to open the scoring in the thirteenth minute, but a penalty kick at goal from fly-half Rhys Jones narrowly shaved past the left hand post.
London Welsh centre Neil Starling charged down a Pirates kick out of hand just a few minutes later, and although unable to take immediate advantage, the pressure applied was maintained through former Scotland fly-half Gordon Ross who brought his backs threateningly into play once more. The ball was moved swiftly from left to right, the movement ending with scrum-half Rob Lewis scoring an unconverted try at the corner.
Continuing in top gear, the 'Welsh' were willing and able to play at a tempo that the Pirates simply found too hot to handle. Lock Matt Garvey did waste a clear try-scoring opportunity with three men outside of him, but it mattered not as when the ball was recycled , again at pace, wing Dominic Shabbo scored a try wide out on the left which Ross this time converted.
All but from the restart the home team gave a penalty away, which Rhys Jones this time comfortably slotted. However, if there were hopes that their first score would settle the Pirates, this did not materialise, as with confidence the 'Dragons' continued to blow hot. A penalty on offer saw Ross boot the ball from hand to touch on the right, and when the ball was lofted in at the line-out a gap opened for Lewis to obligingly cross for his second try of the afternoon. Ross missed the conversion.
The Pirates shortly after lost the services of an injured Ben Jones, who had played well under pressure, his place at scrum-half taken by the versatile Jimmy Moore.
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