Having departed with three draws and a defeat from their last four visits to Moseley, the Cornish Pirates were bitterly disappointed to see their Billesley bogey continue on Saturday.

Following their superb 45-38 result at home to Bristol, hopes were high another win could be recorded.

But at the same time, however, in hearts of Pirates' supporters everyone knew this match was likely to be close and it was.

Lying tenth in the league table, on a cold afternoon Moseley were expected to be fired up on their Billesley Common ground, but it was the Pirates who got off to a good start.

The first points of the afternoon came in the fifth minute when the trusty boot of fly-half Kieran Hallett landed a well struck penalty kick.

It soon became 8-0 thanks to centre Tom Hendrickson, who charged down an attempted clearance kick to pounce on the ball in the right hand corner.

A loanee from Wasps, lock Buster Lawrence, son of former England cricketer David 'Syd' Lawrence, was welcomed back to Moseley colours, but it was a familiar home face and prolific points scorer in the shape of fly-half Ollie Thomas who would soon make an impact.

A Pirate back in 2007/08, after Moseley threatened close to the visitor’s line he had the freedom to sell a dummy and score a try to which he also added the extras.

Using their slope to good advantage, midway through the first half, Moseley then took the lead thanks to a try scored by hooker Adam Caves.

There was another setback for the Pirates who then lost the services of hooker Tom Channon with a cut beneath an eye.

Making light of the injury, however, after the wound was stitched up he soon made a return to the fold and a penalty from Hallett then brought the Pirates within a point of their hosts.

The first half had delivered errors aplenty, with too many penalties given away and the Pirates would frustratingly concede two more kickable ones just before the break.

Thomas made the visitors pay by slotting the first, but his next effort, on the stroke of half-time, thankfully strayed to the left of the posts, for the scoreline to stay at 15-11.

Thoughts for the Pirates during the interval would be to regain their belief, strive to play with confidence and impose themselves upon their dogged opponents.

Cutting the error and penalty count was also a must.

In a game still too close to call, on 54 minutes the sway of advantage lent distinctly Moseley's way, as following a break by Thomas, a try was scored at the posts by centre Greg King.

The conversion, which was a formality, saw Thomas give Moseley a 22-11 points lead.

There was still plenty of time for the Pirates to get back into this match and there were certainly sparks of hope, including a run from wing Mike Pope.

A real bonus was to see back-rower Alex Cheesman back from injury, having not played since injuring a shoulder against Nottingham early in November.

Hungry for action and being someone would have just loved to feature in that win against Bristol, the shaggy-haired bearded warrior was much in evidence.

Indeed, into the last ten minutes it was from a catch-and-drive which saw him burrow under bodies to place the ball on the line, his try confirmed by referee Matt Carley and converted by Hallett.

Could the Pirates end this match with another try to deliver a much sought after win?

Despite finishing strongly, the answer would be no and they had to settle for a losing bonus point, with the elusive victory at Billesley Common having to wait for another day.

PIRATES: 15 Evans, 14 Pope, 13 Hendrickson (James 50), 12 Dancer, 11 Holland, 10 Hallett, 9 Kessell; 1 Davies (Paver 50), 2 Channon (Innard 22-30, 69), 3 Ford-Robinson (Walker 69), 4 Graulich, 5 Barry, 6 Morgan (c), 7 Atkinson, 8 Parker (Cheesman 41).

UNUSED REPS: Davey, Hopkin.

TRIES: Hendrickson, Cheesman.

CONS: Hallett 1/2.

PENS: Hallett (2).