UNBELIEVABLY the Cornish Pirates managed to lose their British & Irish Cup game on Saturday in a match they controlled until the last 15 minutes.


Tries from Rob Elloway, who grabbed two, Will Carrick Smith and Craig Holland had appeared to have sent the hosts to victory with a bonus point.


But with the deal seemingly sealed, three converted tries scored by Douglas Flockhart, Paul Jarvis and Matthew Challinor saw Doncaster Knights become the team who would leave the ground with five points.


Contrasting emotions were etched on the faces of players and fans from both sides with the Pirates looking gobsmacked and those in Knights colours jubilated.


It now means the Pirates must beat Bedford Blues next week and hope other results go their way to secure a quarter final spot.


For the majority of the game it looked like the home side were the only possible winners with a 20 point lead opening up by the 65th minutes thanks to the tries, three of them scored in the first half, and two penalties from Laurence May.


Then proceedings unravelled spectacularly for them as Holland was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, a decision which seemed a bit harsh as the winger looked to be tackling.


This though sparked a crazy end to the match as Flockhart went over before moments later he intercepted a pass to set up Jarvis, closing the gap to six points.


May then fluffed a simple penalty kick in front of the posts and as the seconds ebbed away, the Knights charged forward and after being kept at bay by desperate Pirates defenders, Challinor found a gap to slip through.


In a game where they had been in control particularly amongst the forwards, it will be a bitter pill for the hosts to swallow.