Beattie’s late try gets Scots home against the Pirates
LONDON Scottish capped their final home match of the year in dramatic style with a Bobby Beattie try five minutes from time giving the hosts a slim victory over Cornish Pirates.
Pirates have been riding high on four wins out of five to start the Championship season, but Scottish have held the upper hand over the men from Penzance with an unbeaten record in head-to-heads at home dating back to 2011.
And they extended that run, in part, through a fast start to the match which saw centre Matt Gordon score direct from the restart after a penalty was put through the posts by Pirates’ fly-half Javier Rojas Alvarez after eight minutes.
Outside centre Beattie was the creator of the try with a chip ahead for his midfield partner Gordon to bolt onto and go over. USA international Will Magie added the conversion to make it 7-3.
Tries for both sides then set the game up to be an even contest, Scottish openside flanker Lewis Wynee grabbing the first.
But Pirates responded with a try for centre Callum Patterson which ignited the travelling support.
And with their backing, the visitors finished the first half the stronger with Alvarez adding another penalty, following a yellow card to Scottish lock Luke Frost.
Trailing 14-11, Pirates were soon in the lead after the restart with Patterson on the try-sheet again. A co-ordinated driving maul from the pack set things up for the ball to be worked to the centre for his fifth try of the season.
After Magie and Alvarez exchanged penalties, Scottish’s hooker James Malcolm was sent to the bin.
But Pirates were unable to hold out for the win despite their fourpoint advantage as Beattie produced heroics with a kick through and collect to dot down.
“Unfortunately, we came up short tonight but not through a lack of effort,” said Pirates director of rugby, Chris Stirling.
“Yes, we are disappointed to not finish this first league block with a win as everyone has worked extremely hard over this period and we have made some excellent progress.”