Cornish Pirates 30, Ealing Trailfinders 15
With the excitement of Cup rugby for the present put aside, the Cornish Pirates
turned their focus for a return to Greene King IPA Championship action and this
important home game against Ealing Trailfinders.
The Pirates lost 28-17 when the two teams met at Vallis Way, Ealing, in September,
so they were fully aware of the threat posed by the Trailfinders. It was seventh
versus eleventh in the league, with both sides having clear incentive to acquire
league points – the Pirates to climb further up the table and the Trailfinders to open
up a gap ahead of bottom-placed Moseley.
Continuing wet weather meant this was yet another match played in slippery
conditions at the Mennaye Field, with the Pirates adorning stylishly designed blue &
black shirts for an occasion that also doubled up as their ‘Ladies Day’.
Awarded a penalty at a scrum, the Pirates opened the scoring thanks to three points
fro0m the boot of their man-of-the-match fly-half, Laurence May.
A second penalty by May, slotted effortlessly through the Penzance posts, made it 6-
0. However, when the visitors soon applied pressure inside the Pirates ‘22’, their
reward came with an unconverted try scored by flanker Alex Bradley.
The Pirates were quick to respond when scoring their first try of the match. Scrum-
half Stuart Townsend made a sniping run, and appearing as if from nowhere Toby
May was on the scene to dot the ball down. The full-back’s surname namesake
comfortably added the extras.
Conditions were naturally proving difficult, so there was great credit to both sides for
coping pretty well. A spell of aerial ping-pong also tested catchers - opposing ‘15s’
Toby May and James Love proving they were up for the challenge - but it was a third
penalty by May (L), that gave the Pirates a 16-5 half-time lead.
The talented Trailfinders suffered a set-back early in the second period when losing
the services of injured fly-half Tristan Roberts, whilst the Pirates also had a potential
problem when lock Laurie McGlone was directed to the sin-bin. For the home side,
however, it mattered not, as the visitors were unable to take advantage during big
Lozza’s 10 minutes absence. Indeed, a converted try scored by hooker Rob Elloway
put the Pirates 23-5 up.
A try scored at the clubhouse corner by replacement flanker Harrison Orr gave the
Trailfinders some hope. Hero one moment though, he then sadly became a yellow-
carded villain, and taking immediate advantage wing Kyle Moyle’s converted try gave
the Pirates an unassailable 30-10 points lead.
In the build up to this game the Pirates will have been keen to acquire a bonus point
win, however on such a day it was a big ask, and it didn’t materialise. Visiting flanker
Iain Grieve scored the last points of the afternoon, for the match to end 30-15.
The months November-December-January had proved mightily impressive for the
Pirates, as during the period they won 10 (7 league/3 cup) and lost two games (1
league/1 cup). Yes, there are stern challenges ahead, starting with two consecutive
away league games against Yorkshire Carnegie and London Scottish, but witnessing
the progress made by the squad has provided immense encouragement.
Cornish Pirates: 15 Toby May (Kieran Hallett 74), 14 Jack Arnott, 13 Tom Riley,
12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Kyle Moyle, 10 Laurence May, 9 Stuart Townsend (Alex
Day 70); 1 Marlen Walker (Jack Andrew 65), 2 Rob Elloway (Tom Channon 61), 3
Alan Paver (Tyler Gendall 70), 4 Laurie McGlone, 5 Brett Beukeboom, 6 Jake Parker
(Tom Duncan 70), 7 Sam Simmonds (Alex Cheesman 48), 8 Aaron Carpenter (capt).
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