Pirates keep playoff hopes alive with bonus point victory
CORNISH Pirates, challenged to take five points from every remaining match to keep their play-off hopes alive, secured the bonus score before half-time but then had to repel a spirited revival from lowly Nottingham.
Defeats by Doncaster and Ealing mean that Pirates, whose performances have slipped since handing Saracens a shock defeat on the opening weekend, have been left to rely on other results.
They punished win-less Nottingham for their defensive deficiencies, hitting them with four tries inside 34 minutes but the Green and Whites had much the better of the second half.
Nottingham head coach Neil Fowkes reflected: “We gave them a couple of cheap tries, but second half we stopped everything they threw at us.”
A week after conceding 19 penalties against Ealing, Pirates shipped three more
in the first five minutes and scrum-half Alex Dolly kicked Nottingham ahead.
Nottingham were not helped when centre Charlie Thacker had to be replaced by Theo Manihera after failing a late fitness test.
Pirates’ opening try came off a lineout drive following a penalty into the corner with hooker Dan Frost spotting the gap as the home defence followed dummy runner Alex Schwartz.
Harry Davey, figuring for the first time this season, grabbed two tries in a five-minute spell to extend the lead to 16 points.
Davey won the race to touch down on the right after fellow-wing Robin Wedlake threaded his kick through the defensive line for the first and then danced his way past three would-be tacklers down the left touchline.
Another error enabled Exeter’s on-loan Tommy Wyatt to grab an interception before running in the bonus-point try six minutes before half-time.
But Nottingham rallied at the start of the second half after Joe Browning, dual-registered from Leicester Tigers, made yet another break.
Dan Frost, illegally defending a tap penalty, was yellow-carded and a second tap-and-go ended with Karl Garside driving over.
Two minutes later they struck again with flanker Jake Farnworth – a hooker by trade – grabbing an interception inside his own half and outpacing two Pirates threequarters on a 60-yard surge to the line.
But a needless penalty as Nottingham failed to
respond to referee Jack Makepeace’s instructions saw Pirates put the match beyond their reach.
Cargill’s deep touchfinder and a sharp lineout released replacement No.8 Paddy Ryan who charged over with the fly-half ’s conversion stretching the lead back out to 18 points.
Nottingham refused to lie down and caught
Pirates napping in midfield as their No.8 Jordan Coghlan, another Leicester loanee, embarked on a 40-metre run to the try-line, sidestepping replacement full-back Harry Bazalgette on the way.
Nottingham were scenting a fourth try and two consolation bonus points – but those hopes faded with another unnecessary penalty allowing the visitors to relieve the pressure.
Gavin Cattle, Pirates joint head coach, said: “There were a lot of good points in the first half but, because of injuries, we were understandably a bit disjointed in the second 40.
“Our challenge now is to build consistency and much of today was a step in the right direction.”