Pirates Firepower Wins In Uncharted Waters

By Mark Stevens
December 11 2006

Playing in their first-ever away fixture against the Midlanders, Jim McKay's side ran in six tries on their way to a 42-15 success, one which also helped lift them back into the division's top three.

Saturday 09/12/06 - Moseley 18 Cornish Pirates 42

Report by Mark Stevens

THE Pirates may have been in uncharted territory at Billesley Common, but the visiting Cornish crew had too much firepower for Moseley as they stormed to their first league double of the season.

Playing in their first-ever away fixture against the Midlanders, Jim McKay's side ran in six tries on their way to a 42-15 success, one which also helped lift them back into the division's top three.

However, no sooner had the dust settled in this encounter, then McKay and his team were immediately switching their attentions to this Sunday's top of the table tussle with league leaders Leeds Tykes at Camborne.

"Every week in this league is important, but the next couple certainly have a bit more on them you could say," said the Australian. "We've got Leeds and Plymouth, both at home, and in successive matches, so it's going to be a tough period for us.

"They are both big games for us, but so was today and we're very pleased to have picked up five points.

The focus this week was on winning today and hopefully getting five points, which we did.

Jim Mckay

"Again we played with a lot of endeavour and I was pleased with some of the tries we manufactured. I thought in the first half we came out of the blocks very well - and it was the work we did in that half which created the space for us in the second half."

Certainly the Pirates started with a bang, centre Duncan Bell latching onto a pass from fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo to open the scoring with a try in the eighth minute.

That lead was added to moments later when Di Bernardo fired over a penalty after the home side had been penalised for handling on the floor.

Moseley full-back Ollie Thomas briefly reduced the arrears with a penalty, given after referee Mark Wilson had harshly sent off visiting skipper Gavin Cattle for going offside.

It was certainly a harsh call on the Welshman, particularly as he had not strayed anywhere near the area where the offence was committed, yet Wilson was adamant he had transgressed and sent the scrum-half to the sidelines.

Gavin Cattle

Despite the loss of Cattle, it was the Pirates who added to their tally, full-back Adryan Winnan crossing in the right-hand corner following good work from James Moore and Bell.

With Cattle still inactive on the touchline, things got decidedly worse for the Pirates when half-back partner Di Bernardo was forced out of the action with a nasty-looking injury to his right ankle.

It meant the versatile Moore, who had started the game on the right wing, was forced to first cover Cattle, then the hole vacated by the Argentinian playmaker.

However, the former Coventry man carried out his duties with aplomb and will be a more than able deputy should Di Bernardo fail to make Sunday's clash.

James Moore

Indeed, it was Moore who added a second penalty - given after a high tackle by Andy Binns on replacement Lewis Vinnicombe - which made it 16-3 to the Pirates at the break.

With Binns yellow-carded for his part, the Pirates started the second period just as they had done the opening half, on the attack.

A turnover by the Pirates inside their own half helped release Bell, who made 35 metres before offloading to Vinnicombe to cross.

Moore added the extras to that score, then obliged with the additional two points for Chris Cracknell's sixth try of the season on 50 minutes.

A fifth try followed for Winnan three minutes later, the full-back this time collecting a pass from Steve Winn to cross in the corner.

Moseley briefly countered with a Nathan Bressington try, converted by Thomas, but by then the Pirates were already home and dry, even though they lost centre Winn to a yellow card for his part in an on-field brawl.

Lock James Inglis made sure the game was safely put to bed when he thundered over for his maiden try on 73 minutes, again converted by Moore.

With time all but up, Moseley claimed a second try through Thomas.

That, however, was a mere consolation for the Birmingham club, who themselves face a tough battle to avoid relegation this term.

James Inglis

"There were definitely positives to take from the game, but there were also areas that were not so great, like our line-out. That didn't function at all, so we've got some work to do on that this week," added McKay, whose side will be looking to avenge their narrow 21-20 defeat at Headingley back in September.

"We won't really be thinking about revenge against Leeds. We just want to go out there, perform well, and hopefully get the right result, it's as simple as that. It's a big game for both sides."

Moseley 15

Tries - Bressington, Thomas
Conversion - Thomas; Penalty - Thomas

Cornish Pirates 42

Tries - Bell, Winnan 2, Vinnicombe, Cracknell, Inglis
Conversion - Moore 3
Penalties - Di Bernardo, Moore

Moseley
O Thomas; N Bressington (D O'Leary 74), A Binns (capt), N Buckley, J Aston; T Hayes, D Hunter (P Knight h/t); P Coles, A Caves (C Hall 54), K Moran (R Davies 79); A Hadley (M Evans h/t-51), T Skelding; A Lightowler (C Daniell 54), R Bignell, J Rodwell (Evans 54). Replacements (not used): J Pearson, D Hunter.

Yellow Card: Binns

Pirates:
A Winnan; J Moore, D Bell, S Winn, J Hilton; A Di Bernardo (L Vinnicombe 36), G Cattle (capt, R Wells 79); A Paver (G Anderson 54), V Ma'asi (N Makin 54), D Seal; H Senekal, (J Beardshaw 64), J Inglis; C Cracknell, I Motusaga (S Betty 64), T Cowley (M Evans 46).

Yellow Cards: Cattle, Winn

Referee: M Wilson (RFU)

Attendance: 771.