Cornish Pirates 30, Ealing Trailfinders 15

With the excitement of Cup rugby for the present put aside, the Cornish Pirates

turned their focus for a return to Greene King IPA Championship action and this

important home game against Ealing Trailfinders.

The Pirates lost 28-17 when the two teams met at Vallis Way, Ealing, in September,

so they were fully aware of the threat posed by the Trailfinders. It was seventh

versus eleventh in the league, with both sides having clear incentive to acquire

league points – the Pirates to climb further up the table and the Trailfinders to open

up a gap ahead of bottom-placed Moseley.

Continuing wet weather meant this was yet another match played in slippery

conditions at the Mennaye Field, with the Pirates adorning stylishly designed blue &

black shirts for an occasion that also doubled up as their ‘Ladies Day’.

Awarded a penalty at a scrum, the Pirates opened the scoring thanks to three points

fro0m the boot of their man-of-the-match fly-half, Laurence May.

A second penalty by May, slotted effortlessly through the Penzance posts, made it 6-

0. However, when the visitors soon applied pressure inside the Pirates ‘22’, their

reward came with an unconverted try scored by flanker Alex Bradley.

The Pirates were quick to respond when scoring their first try of the match. Scrum-

half Stuart Townsend made a sniping run, and appearing as if from nowhere Toby

May was on the scene to dot the ball down. The full-back’s surname namesake

comfortably added the extras.

Conditions were naturally proving difficult, so there was great credit to both sides for

coping pretty well. A spell of aerial ping-pong also tested catchers - opposing ‘15s’

Toby May and James Love proving they were up for the challenge - but it was a third

penalty by May (L), that gave the Pirates a 16-5 half-time lead.

The talented Trailfinders suffered a set-back early in the second period when losing

the services of injured fly-half Tristan Roberts, whilst the Pirates also had a potential

problem when lock Laurie McGlone was directed to the sin-bin. For the home side,

however, it mattered not, as the visitors were unable to take advantage during big

Lozza’s 10 minutes absence. Indeed, a converted try scored by hooker Rob Elloway

put the Pirates 23-5 up.

A try scored at the clubhouse corner by replacement flanker Harrison Orr gave the

Trailfinders some hope. Hero one moment though, he then sadly became a yellow-

carded villain, and taking immediate advantage wing Kyle Moyle’s converted try gave

the Pirates an unassailable 30-10 points lead.

In the build up to this game the Pirates will have been keen to acquire a bonus point

win, however on such a day it was a big ask, and it didn’t materialise. Visiting flanker

Iain Grieve scored the last points of the afternoon, for the match to end 30-15.

The months November-December-January had proved mightily impressive for the

Pirates, as during the period they won 10 (7 league/3 cup) and lost two games (1

league/1 cup). Yes, there are stern challenges ahead, starting with two consecutive

away league games against Yorkshire Carnegie and London Scottish, but witnessing

the progress made by the squad has provided immense encouragement.

Cornish Pirates: 15 Toby May (Kieran Hallett 74), 14 Jack Arnott, 13 Tom Riley,

12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Kyle Moyle, 10 Laurence May, 9 Stuart Townsend (Alex

Day 70); 1 Marlen Walker (Jack Andrew 65), 2 Rob Elloway (Tom Channon 61), 3

Alan Paver (Tyler Gendall 70), 4 Laurie McGlone, 5 Brett Beukeboom, 6 Jake Parker

(Tom Duncan 70), 7 Sam Simmonds (Alex Cheesman 48), 8 Aaron Carpenter (capt).