Having secured their first Champ Rugby win of the season away to London Scottish the previous weekend, in Round 5 on Saturday the Cornish Pirates made it a second success with this hard-earned victory against previously unbeaten Caldy.

The visitors from the Wirral arrived in Cornwall as the surprise package in the league, so a fascinating ninth versus second contest was anticipated for supporters to enjoy, which they ultimately did.

Changes in the Cornish Pirates starting line-up saw wing Matty Ward, and prop Alessandro Heaney named to make their first league starts, whilst Sol Moody was selected at hooker and Milo Hallam at blind-side wing forward. On the bench, Matt Pritchard was keen to make his first league appearance this season at hooker, and if backrower Barnaby Elderkin entered the fray, then it would mark his first league appearance for the club.

The ‘Ravers’, to give Caldy their nickname, have proved tough opponents since the sides first met in the Championship three years ago, and with flags aplenty waving they were led out by their experienced skipper ‘JJ’ Dickinson who will have been pleased with his team’s early dominance.

Caldy’s lineout play impressed, and it was second-row forward Tom Sanders who drove over the line at the old Western National corner to open the scoring with an unconverted try.

The Pirates strived to respond, with full-back Iwan Price-Thomas and their October player of the month, number 8 Tomi Agbongbon, making good yardage into the Penzance half of the ground. As for their first score, that came midway through the half when applied pressure delivered a reward when flanker Hallam scored a try to which fly-half Arwel Robson added the extras.

A second try for the home side came following good work by hooker Moody and lock Josh King, with the former the beneficiary from a strong drive to the line. But better still was to come for the Pirates, who appeared very much in the ascendancy when skipper and scrum half Dan Hiscocks ended a spectacular attack to score a converted try at the posts.

The visitors hit back when their Aussie hooker Ollie Hearn scored a try that was this time converted by their fly-half Kieran Wilkinson, who has played for Sale, Leicester, and Newcastle Falcons. His brother Connor also featured for Caldy in the centre.

It was the Pirates though who had the last say in the first forty when, following a leg pumping run from man of the match wing Ward, the always fully committed King scored a converted try to make it 26-12.

There was even rivalry between the two teams during the break, as opposing supporters Gary (Pirates) and Finn (Ravers) competed in the Thatchers’ giant ‘Apple Rolling Competition’. Both entrants were enthusiastically cheered on, and taking in the length of the field, it ended in a sporting dead heat.

Back to the rugby action, Caldy were fast out of the blocks at the start of the second half, and after pressing strongly they were soon awarded a penalty try which led to the Pirates losing Hallam to the sin bin for 10 minutes. However, the Cornish side was quick to hit back when Moody showed impressive pace to dash down the right for his second try of the match, this time scored at the Newlyn gate corner.

Did a 31-19 scoreline look comfortable? No, in the context of this game not at all, as although it provided a good level of entertainment for supporters, the penalty count against the Pirates was somewhat high.

Hooker Hearn also scored again to get within a converted try of the hosts, so it was therefore wise that the Pirates opted to kick at goal and add three points to their score when a kickable penalty chance came their way to open a 10 points gap.

The advantage did not last long, as Wilkinson proceeded to narrow the deficit to seven once more, and not surprisingly the tension mounted. Pirates’ supporters responded well to be heard and were thankful that their side held on to record a very handy bonus point win, whilst few would argue that the spirited Ravens at least deserved their two league points gained from the match.

Commenting at the end of the game, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Gavin Cattle said:

“I feel the outcome was closer than it should have been but credit to Caldy as they played some good stuff.

“Our penalty count, unfortunately, went through the roof, which was disappointing and is something we’ll look at. The aim was also that we should play by keeping the tempo up, but I think we played into their hands and there are likely things for us to learn from it all.

“Ultimately, despite winning, we need to be way better and weren’t at the level we were last week at London Scottish, or in previous games that we lost. Our scrum wasn’t perhaps as good as it has been, but that can happen when you come up against a more experienced pack who can cause you different problems. It is always frustrating when you can’t fully function on your own ball, and especially so from an attacking perspective.

“We certainly haven’t become a bad team overnight, and there were also of course positives, including taking five points from the match against a side who arrived at this game with a good level of confidence following their four wins on the trot.”

Cornish Pirates:   15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Matty Ward 13 Chester Ribbons 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Ben Cambriani 10 Arwel Robson 9 Dan Hiscocks (captain); 1 Alessandro Heaney 2 Sol Moody 3 Alfie Petch 4 Alfie Bell 5 Josh King 6 Milo Hallam 7 Jack Forsythe 8 Tomi Agbongbon.

Replacements:   16 Matt Pritchard 17 Billy Young 18 James French 19 Luke Ratcliff 22 Louie Sinclair 23 Harry Yates (used); 20 Barnaby Elderkin 21 Will Rigelsford (not used).

Yellow card:   Hallam.

Caldy:   15 Mall Kilcourse 14 Rhys Tudor 13 Connor Wilkinson 12 Michael Barlow 11 Will Robinson 10 Kieran Wilkinson 9 Tom Akehurst; 1 Monty Weatherby 2 Ollie Hearn 3 Nathan Rushton 4 Max Loboda 5 Tom Sanders 6 Sam Olyott 7 Dan Owen 8 JJ Dickinson (captain).

Replacements:   16 Matt Gallagher 18 Matthew Rabbette 19 Jordan Jones 20 Tom Parry 21 Ollie Wynn 22 Lewis Barker 23 Jacob Mitchell (used); 17 Ryan Higginson (not used).

Scorers:

Cornish Pirates – tries: Moody (2), Hallam, Hiscocks, King; cons: Robson (3); pen: Robson.

Caldy – tries: Hearn (2), Sanders, Penalty try; con: K. Wilkinson; pen: K. Wilkinson.

Referee:   Henry Pearson

Assistants:   Ben Simpson & Kevin Williams

‘Tribute’ Man of the Match:   Matty Ward

‘Thatchers’ Try of the Match:   Sol Moody

Attendance:   1504