Pirates show great heart to fend off ornery Ealing
CORNISH PIRATES ........................ 15 EALING TRAILFINDERS ................ 12
CORNISH Pirates’ joint head coach Alan Paver praised the phenomenal spirit of his side as they held form to overcome Ealing Trailfinders 15-12 in a closely fought Championship clash at the Mennaye Field.
Over 1,600 were in attendance as the Pirates clung on to their onepoint lead in a somewhat feisty encounter in which the Cornishmen felt Ealing should have been reduced to 14 inside the opening five minutes.
Ealing lock Bobby De Wee was, in the eyes of many, fortunate just to be shown yellow in just the fourth minute. His apparent no arms tackle could easily have been a red card and that set the tone for a fractious affair which was managed well by match referee Sara Cox, making a return to the ground where she created history by becoming the first female to referee a Championship fixture.
“We respect Ealing and what they have done because they are an extremely good side, have a good squad, and with lot of structure around them are ambitious,” Paver said.
“That said, this is the Mennaye, we are the Pirates, and, when teams come here, they have to be ready for a mighty fight.
“As we saw for 60 minutes, we had a lot of control, brought emotion to the game, and we outplayed them for vast amounts of that period.
“Again, that said, they came back at us - like a good side will - and it was nail-biting at the end. However, what we showed was heart, true grit and determination, which saw us end on the right side of the score to achieve a fine victory.”
Resultant feelings after the De Wee incident were inevitably contentious, but when matters settled, the Pirates took play to, and held territory, inside the Ealing 22. The scrum was showing up well, and there no better example when at the Newlyn gate corner efforts were rewarded with the gift of a penalty try.
Trailfinders responded with a try scored at the Penzance posts by backrower Malon Al-Jiboori. Fly-half Craig Willis then added the extra two points to draw the scores level.
The second half started with the Pirates once again quick out of the blocks, and very much on the front foot. Forceful play in the clubhouse corner saw them awarded a line-out from where energetic lock Danny Cutmore was adjudged the scorer of an unconverted try.
Through the Pirates applying full pressure on their opponents, it was perhaps no surprise when Ealing scrum-half Craig Hampson was yellow-carded. The home side also opened an eight-point gap thanks to a fine penalty effort from Arwel Robson.
Ealing’s right-wing Angus Kernohan scooped up a cross field kick and scored an unconverted try wide on the right, which led to a tense last 10 minutes. But the Pirates held firm to register their second win in three league games.