In order to avoid a kit clash with their visitors Nottingham wore blue at home and that colour matched their mood at the end of an entertaining encounter, as Cornish Pirates extended their winning run against the Archers to 11 matches with a clinical display, running out 36-28 victors at The Bay.
The first ten minutes were largely a midfield battle until a raking kick by Pirates scrum half Dan Hiscocks exposed David Williams. He coughed the ball up inside his own 22 and the visitors worked it wide left for Iwan Price-Thomas to open the scoring with Arwel Robson adding the extras.
Matty Ward doubled the try tally minutes later, crossing in an almost identical position but Robson couldn’t convert this time.
That second score spurred the Archers into life and they reduced the arrears on the quarter hour mark when Jack Dickinson punched it in following a sniping drive from Will Yarnell that took him to within inches of the line. Gwyn Parks converted.
It was only a brief respite for the home side, however, as the Pirates scored their third try with their third attack of the evening on 23 minutes. Arthur Relton the beneficiary this time.
Robson received a yellow card for an intentional knock on after half an hour. Billy Young followed him to the bin moments later as Nottingham piled the pressure onto the Cornish goal line. The pressure was turned into points when Dickinson burrowed over under the sticks for his second score.
Nottingham maintained their territorial supremacy with their two man advantage and, as Hiscocks attempted to clear from in his own 22, lock forward Osian Thomas both blocked the kick and chased the loose ball to record his first try for the Archers on the stroke of half time. Parks converted to take Nottingham into the sheds ahead 21-17.
Thomas, who had popped up on the wing to create problems earlier in the encounter, was happy with his debut score: “I like to play in the back row sometimes so I was just channelling those abilities! Blocks are always a bit random, when you go to pick it up it’s like ‘am I going to knock it on’ and it’s all in slow motion. I haven’t scored in a while so it’s a good feeling.”
The Pirates dictated the tempo of the match after the interval and were able to reclaim and then extend their lead as both Relton and Ward claimed their second tries of the evening.
Nottingham pulled back to within one point of the visitors when James Cherry crashed over for the bonus point score and Parks continued his perfect night from the tee but that was as good as it got for the Archers.
The Pirates added a sixth try from wing replacement Harry Yates that fellow substitute Louie Sinclair converted. With time in short supply the Archers were able to retain possession for a period in search of a losing bonus point but they were unable to find the necessary breakthrough.
Nottingham player of the match, Thomas, summed up the sentiments at the final whistle: “We knew it was going to be a challenge against a professional team. At half time hopes were up, we knew what we needed to stick at but there were a few turnovers in that second half so it’s going to be a tough review. There are a lot of positives but it’s frustrating as we worked so hard this week.”
RAFFLE WINNER: BLUE 41-45
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