Red card ends the Bedford challenge
THE first-half dismissal of Bedford lock Jordan Onojaife proved costly as the Pirates, 24-18 down at the interval, scored 21 points without reply in the second half.
“We knew they were down in the forwards and could apply pressure there and it told in the end,” said Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle while Bedford DoR Mike Rayer believed the red card was “absolutely 100 per cent” the catalyst for the way the match swung.
Rayner added: “The lads were magnificent to hang in for such a long time but their five tries from five metres out tells the story of the game. There were a lot of positives – but positives don’t give you the points.”
Three of the Pirates tries came from pinpoint penalties into the corner from fly-half Arwel
Robson, towering takes by Josh Caulfield and closerange drives which broke the Blues resolve.
Bedford secured their bonus point before the interval but failed to score again and Cattle revealed: “At half-time we said our physicality wasn’t what it had been in recent games but our maul was good and that was the difference.”
Will Maisey, switched to centre, and returning flyhalf Louis Grimoldby gave the Blues a dual kicking threat and there were question
marks over some of the home defending as Bedford had the better of the first half.
Robson, who finished with 14 points, kicked Pirates ahead with two 40metre penalties before Bedford unleashed Pat Tapley down the right with the winger kicking ahead and winning the race to touch down. Maisey converted but it took the Cornish side only three minutes to regain the lead after Bedford left-wing Dean Adamson was yellowcarded for a deliberate knock-on.
Roberts, spurning a third shot at goal, put the kick into the right corner and the Pirates backs piled in to reinforce the drive for hooker Tom Channon’s first try.
Fourteen-man Bedford responded with Jack Hughes finding Maisey whose kick behind the defence undid Pirates again before the centre
touched down.
Attempting to play their way out of their own 22, Pirates came unstuck when Onojaife snatched an interception to release Jamie Elliott who sent Alex Woodford over for Bedford’s third try to stretch their lead to 19-13.
Pirates responded with Robson’s carbon copy penalty to the corner and the inevitable lineout drive for Channon’s second try.
Caleb Montgomery’s unnecessary, fumbled attempt to catch the restart which was heading straight into touch had repercussions when the resulting lineout ended in a scuffle.
Referee Dan Jones yellow-carded Pirates lock Danny Cutmore for his part and red-carded Onojaife for throwing a punch.
With both sides now down to 14, Adamson made amends for his previous indiscretion by spotting a gaping defensive hole to slice through and secure the bonus point.
Pirates capitalised on their second-half numerical advantage with centres Joe Elderkin and Rory Parata both crossing for tries after rolling mauls had been repelled before Channon’s replacement Syd Blackmore added the fifth after the lineout drive hit top gear once more.