IAN Davies lavished praise on the Cornish Pirates’ effort to secure their second win of the season – although he feels they could have avoided another tight finish.

The club’s director of rugby expressed his happiness with the performance by the side as they came from 10-3 down to defeat Doncaster 24-22 away from home.

He played particular credit to Kieran Hallett, Tom Kessell and Jamal Ford-Robinson for their outings, adding the team showed great character to grind out the win.

Davies said: “Play was a little disjointed in the first half and disruptions didn't help, but we were happy with 10-3 scoreline as we hadn't fired any shots.

“Importantly, we were able to sort things out and it was felt that with more accuracy the points would come.

“Starting the second half with just 14 men we did well and built pressure.

“Kieran and Tom played with control and showed real maturity while Jamal, playing his best rugby since joining the club, also solidified the scrum and carried strongly.”

He went onto say the finish could have been better as two tries in the last eight minutes for the hosts made the last few moments tight.

It was a similar case for the Pirates in their win at home to Moseley a week earlier as they went from 22-0 to 22-19 up.

A last minute try from Kessell cushioned the lead again for the Pirates, but Davies stated he wants to see a more clinical approach from his players.

“Having to survive a late onslaught was of our own making as we didn’t keep our foot on their throat,” he said.

“However, we held on and it was a fantastic effort right at the very end.”