Cornish Pirates 16 Earth Titans 16

By Dick Straughan
March 20 2007

The Cornish Pirates and Earth Titans fought each other to a standstill this afternoon in a gripping top of the table league clash played out before the cameras of Sky Sports.

On a day when winter returned to the far southwest with a vengeance, temperatures plummeted as a brutal north-westerly wind roared in from far out to sea. It was not a day for faint hearts on or off the field of play, and certainly not a day to be filming from an exposed television gantry.

The presence of Sky Sports was welcomed by both teams anxious to showcase their talents to a global audience as the quest to promote National League rugby continues. The action on the pitch did not disappoint. Nobody expected a classic encounter of running rugby given the prevailing conditions but there was to be no shortage of tension, drama and excitement.

The Titans kicked off with the wind at their backs and poured forward in search of early points. The Pirates had other ideas and played the conditions perfectly keeping the ball tight and refusing to risk possession through risky use of the boot. Skipper Gavin Cattle, restored in the number 9 shirt after injury, sniped and darted at every opportunity injecting pace on the game and creating space for his team. An early penalty from Gareth Steenson edged the visitors ahead but back came the Pirates. With Cowley and Ma`asi tackling like men possessed in defence and driving incessantly through the Titans rearguard with the ball in hand, the Yorkshiremen saw their game plan unravelling.

With the large crowd cowering under the onslaught of a hail storm on 25 minutes, the Titans finally launched a meaningful offensive. Their strong pack trundled to within yards of the Pirates line. Through the arrows of horizontal hail a score looked a certainty until suddenly Jonny Hylton pocketed pilfered possession and sprinted away into the teeth of the storm and safety.

Only when an isolated Tim Cowley was penalised on the half-hour did Steenson get the opportunity to extend the lead to 0-6, and with half-time approaching the home faithful were happy. It got better. The Pirates launched a late winter offensive and the Titans rearguard collapsed under a driving maul inches from their line. Mr Rowden called time on his tolerance of such skullduggery and banished Fourie to the sin-bin. James Moore slotted the penalty. Then it got much better for the Pirates. Moore converted Tim Cowley`s try after a massive forwards effort had disrupted a Titans scrum on their own line. Senekal bulldozed full-back Whitehead to the floor behind his own posts and the stage was set. The TV Match Official confirmed Cowley`s touchdown after another bullocking drive from the numerically superior Pirates pack. A lead of 10-6 and the wind at their backs in the second half. What could possibly go wrong?

Andre Bester must have had a quiet word with his charges at the interval. Suddenly the Titans were hungry. More importantly they were keeping possession and making ground with alarming regularity. The Pirates were forced to defend and weather the storm. On 47 minutes the game changed as a mad moment of inexperience from Pirates prop Sam Heard earned him a yellow card for charging into a ruck from the side. As he sat on the sidelines contemplating his misdemeanour the Titans twice drove over from close range with tries for Hanna and Lund, the latter again confirmed by the TV Match Official. Moore had kept the Pirates in the hunt with a penalty sandwiched between but now the Pirates were playing catch up rugby at 13-16.

With Sky`s floodlights holding darkness at bay back came the Pirates. Moore levelled with another penalty on 65 minutes but in truth the Pirates were never able to build a platform of possession big enough to create match winning pressure. The Titans wanted the ball and they kept it. When the home side did steal it back, as they did regularly, aimless kicks downfield so often again surrendered the initiative.

Earth Titans sensed victory and with time almost up they marched up to the Pirates line and camped there. Penalties came and went and still they lined up just one incisive move short of the telling score. The Pirates stood to a man and fronted up. They would not yield. Again Mr Rowden penalised the home side but Titans would not trust the swirling wind and declined the kick. Again they ran into a red and black wall, then spun it wide and were swallowed up by the Pirates cover. The ball was lost. The opportunity spurned.

Three months ago under the same posts the Pirates did exactly the same thing against Plymouth Albion. They did not score either. History does repeat after all.

Only when Pirates replacement fly-half Alberto Di Bernardo thumped a telling touchfinder deep into Titans territory was defeat finally avoided. Mr Rowden`s final whistle scuppered the Titans attempt to attack again. A draw was on balance fair but neither team will be happy for both had opportunities to win a plenty. For the Titans, the news of Leeds beating Exeter will not have been good. Jim McKay`s weary troops now have just six days before another massive battle against Plymouth Albion in the EDF Trophy Semi-Final. What a game that promises to be.

TEAMS:-

PIRATES:- Winnan, McAtee, Roke, Bell, Hylton, Moore, Cattle (c), Cowley, Motusaga, Keen, Beardshaw, Senekal, Heard, Ma`asi, Paver, Replacements - Wells, Di Bernardo, Winn, Evans, Inglis, Makin, Seal

Try - Cowley
Con - Moore
Pens - Moore (3)

TITANS:- Whitehead, Tuohy, Smith, Blackwood, Claasens, Steenson, Bedford (c), Bornmann, Hennessy, Fourie, McGowan, Lund, Hopcroft, Hanna, Walsh, Replacements - Kilbane, Croall, Londroy, McComb, Cochrane, Turnbull, Allen

Tries - Hanna, Lund
Pens - Steenson (2)

Referee - Ashley Rowden (RFU)

Sky Sports Man of the Match - Vili Ma`asi (Pirates)

Attendance - 3150