Cornish Pirates 21-15 Nottingham (RFU Championship) 01.03.20

Nottingham travelled to Penzance yesterday to take on the Cornish Pirates but the Green and Whites could not make it five wins on the spin as they were edged in a tough contest by the home side.

In truth it was a game of two halves as the home team dominated the first period before a late resurgence by Nottingham narrowed the margin but the Pirates clung on to their third position in the table with victory.

The first try of the game came after nine minutes by Parata with Wilson getting in on the act little over ten minutes later with both scores converted to give an early 14-0 lead to the Pirates.

O’Leary kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit on 23 minutes but Frost went over before half time before Cargill kicked good to ensure the score 21-3 at the break.

In the second an improved Nottingham pushed and Williams went over on 65 but Cornwall’s resliance held further until 78 minutes when Qualter’s try converted by O’Leary made it an interesting last couple of minutes.

The Pirates hung on though as Nottingham suffer their first defeat in three league games still sixth in the RFU Championship table.

After the game Coach Neil Fowkes was proud of his teams performance against a strong team stating “It was a really competitive game. We started slowly and they got out to a 21-3 lead at half time. After the half our boys came back really strong and got back in the game in great fashion.”

“We scored a couple of tries and even had an opportunity to win it at the end which we couldn’t quite take.”

“I’m really proud of the lads to show the will and desire to come back and get within a score and get what might prove to be a very vital bonus point against a top four side.”

Next up for Nottingham is the visit of Jersey Reds in a fortnight as the Islanders visit the Bay on Saturday 14^th March.

Starting Team: Jack Spittle, David Williams, Harry Strong, Will Simonds, Ben Foley, Shane O’Leary, Alex Crocker, Tom Hill, Luke Cole, Karl Garside, Llewelyn Jones, Danny Qualter, Tui Uru, Will Owen, Jordan Coghlan.

Replacements: Ben Brownlie, Jamie Jack, Oisin Heffernan, Ollie Chessum, Seb Cecil, Harry Graham, Luke Peters, Josh Poullet.

*Main image @BTempest1 fantastic action footage from the Cornish Pirates line-out against Nottingham.