Pirates Amateurs 13-7 Wadebridge 2nds

6th Feb 2010

This was a hard-fought affair at the Mennaye Field, a genuinely close Merit Table contest, but with ultimate credit to the Pirates Amateurs for gaining revenge following their 62-12 points loss at Wadebridge in December.

After the 'Camels' opened the scoring with a converted try at the Penzance posts, they were soon back on the attack again.

Home supporters could have been forgiven for fearing the worst, but on a beautiful spring-like afternoon the Amateurs gradually came back into the game and pulled three points back thanks to a penalty slotted by fly-half Murray Westren.

As the Pirates now maintained pressure on their opponents for a lengthy spell, they took advantage when an attempted clearance kick gave full-back Rob Cutter the chance to counter.

Using his pace, he ran a line that saw him score en excellent try at the old Western National corner of the ground, putting the Amateurs one point ahead.

From the restart the home team continued to attack with purpose, which brought its due reward when scrum-half Kelvin James kicked cleverly to the left.

On hand to follow up the touchline probe was his half-back partner Westren, who gathered and stretched to score out wide. The conversion attempt again missed, but the Pirates managed to hold on for a 13-7 half-time lead.

Keen to keep the Camels at bay and record a welcome win was the challenge for the Pirates in the second half, which turned into a period when they were called upon to show considerable grit.

Penned back inside their own half, the effort from the Pirates not to leak another score was there for all to see, and in the last few minutes they even managed to at last break the stranglehold and finish strongly deep inside the Penzance half of the field.

There was no further score, but it mattered not, as the Pirates had ultimately held out to register a deserved victory.

Pirates Amateurs:
R. Cutter, E. Skewes, J. Oliver, R. Harris, D. Hewett, M. Westren, K. James, A. Gwennap (capt)
A. Snell, M. Pascoe, M. Nicholas, M. Osborne, D. Lugg, R. Stanley, J. Gwennap.

Replacements (all used):
M. Blewett, B. Matthews, D. Lawrence, D. O'Connell, G. Rich.

Scorers:- tries: Cutter, Westren; pen: Westren.