Off-colour Pirates are defied by Ampthill’s 13 men

FORMER Pirates favourite Dave Ward savoured a Cornwall farewell appearance to remember as part-timers Ampthill ended his old club’s lingering hopes of a Championship play-off place.

Ampthill player-coach Ward, in his final season before taking over as Bristol Bears Women head coach, came off the bench in the 67th minute with Ampthill, down to 13 men and trailing 18-14.

But, despite hooker Syd Blackmore and flanker Joe Bercis being yellowcarded, replacement flyhalf Russell Bennett’s penalty cut the deficit to one point.

Then, with Ampthill restored to 15, Bennett kicked the winner after Pirates conceded their 13th penalty.

“Brilliant,” said Ward, who spent seven seasons at Harlequins after leaving Pirates prior to joining Ampthill. “I have some great memories from down here and to drive out with a win is fantastic.

“We knew if we stuck to our processes we could trouble them. We pride ourselves on our pack and the biggest compliment I can pay them is that we looked like a pack who really wanted it.”

Those processes included a rock-solid scrum, superior lineout and an unflagging series of heavyweight assaults down the middle with props Sam Crean and Aleki Lutui, the 42-year-old former Tonga international, giant locks Llewellyn Jones and Charlie Beckett and No.8 Ollie Stonham all proving hard to handle.

After Will Cargill’s penalty, Pirates made their early pressure play with a well-worked try. Sam

Rodman and John Stevens combined before Paddy Ryan was stopped just short but No.9 Alex Schwartz picked the ball to snipe over.

Schwartz switched to the left-wing, with JB Bruzulier coming on at scrum-half following Harry Davey’s hamstring injury.

Ampthill responded with their effective close-passing forward game and skipper Lewis Grimoldby cut the lead to 8-6 with two penalties.

But Ampthill squandered the fruits of their labours by failing to secure Cargill’s re-start. As they hesitated, Channon

snatched the loose ball and put Stevens in for the second Pirates try.

Ampthill went ahead for the first time early in the second half with Grimoldby’s third penalty before Richard Streets finished a slick move by bursting through for a debut try.

After Alex O’Meara fumbled a clear opportunity in front of the try-line, Schwartz grabbed his second try. But, after falling behind to Bennett’s second late penalty, Pirates butchered two attacking lineouts – and the opportunity of a bonus-point win with the clock in the red.

Joint head coach Gavin Cattle refused to use the injuries which have ravaged his back division as an excuse.

“We lost because our discipline was poor under pressure and we couldn’t execute in attack,” he said.

“That didn’t look like a Pirates team to me. We need more fight than that from the boys.”