HAVING lost their previous three matches away against Rotherham, the sequence continued for the Cornish Pirates with this defeat at Clifton Lane on Saturday.

Tries from Tom Cruse and Michael Keating alongside James McKinney’s three penalties saw the Yorkshiremen earn a 21-13 win which keeps them in the Greene King IPA Championship’s fourth spot.

Despite the loss though, the Pirates, who knew their task was going to be a tough one, showed a considerable improvement following their home defeat to Nottingham the previous weekend.

Player/coach Gavin Cattle said this has given the side some positives to reflect on, although they are massively frustrated to still lose.

Cattle said: "There were positives in that the boys applied themselves and with a good work rate and playing with no lack of passion it was an improvement from the previous week.

"It was foggy and the ball was a little slippery but overall the conditions were not a problem.

“We should have used the short side a little bit more and but for making a couple of errors at crucial times it could have been a different result, as Rotherham would agree.”

The first chance for points in the game went to Rotherham's fly-half McKinney, but his effort rebounded off a post.

However, when a second much simpler penalty was soon on offer, he gave the home side a 3-0 lead.

Responding to the early setback, the Pirates admirably showed they were willing to play a little, impressing with ball in hand and their efforts soon rewarded when a penalty from Kieran Hallett duly levelled the scores.

It was evidently clear that the Cornish side were not lacking for effort in this particular encounter.

They were sound with ball in hand, the defensive effort also provided encouragement and on 25 minutes they took the lead thanks to Hallett's second successful penalty strike.

For the Pirates though there were some setbacks late in the half as a McKinney penalty brought the scores level once more before lock Darren Barry was shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Jackson.

The Titans were naturally keen to take advantage of the Pirates starting the second half still a man short, so they were delighted to make the numerical advantage count when hooker Cruse drove over.

When Barry returned to the fray, the Pirates needed to regain the assurance witnessed in their play before his dismissal and it was not long before they set a catch and drive to score a deserved try through prop Paul Andrew.

Hallett added the extras to level matters at 13-all to guarantee a tense last quarter.

A lack of discipline by Rotherham allowed the Pirates a chance to press for another score, but unfortunately an error at a crucial time enabled the home team to clear the danger.

As the minutes ticked away the tension mounted still further, only for it to be suddenly eased for the Titans when a good passage of play ended with replacement wing Keating crossing for an unconverted try.

Rotherham deserved credit for a committed defence which held the Pirates at bay before McKinney last minute penalty snatched a losing bonus point away from the visitors.

ROTHERHAM: 15 Scanlon, 14 Dowsett (Keating, 41), 13 Gill, 12 Davies, 11 Wilson, 10 McKinney, 9 Mitchell (Davis, 47); 1 Hislop (Williams 59), 2 Cruse, 3 Tampin (Thiede, 51), 4 Parker (Maddison, 69), 5 Holmes (c), 6 Rieder, 7 Birch, 8 Ryan (Preece, 57).

UNUSED REP: Barrett.

TRIES: Cruse, Keating.

CONS: McKinney 1/2.

PENS: McKinney (3).

PIRATES: 15 May, 14 Goss, 13 Bodilly, 12 Dancer, 11 Holland, 10 Hallett, 9 Kessell; 1 P Andrew (Davies, 65), 2 Channon, 3 J Andrew (Paver, 73), 4 Garratt (Graulich, 73), 5 Barry, 6 Morgan (c), 7 Atkinson, 8 Bolwell (Conlon, 75) UNUSED REPS: Brooker, Townsend, James.

TRY: P Andrew.

CON: Hallett.

PENS: Hallett (2).

SIN-BIN: Barry.