The Cornish Pirates booked their place in the quarter finals
of the British and Irish cup, with an emphatic 24 points to nil over a Jersey
side, who in their first home match under the guidance of Steve Boden, looked short
of attacking guile.
Jersey from the off looked to be expansive. Niall O’Conner
in particular dictated the pace of the match with some excellent handling, and
with centre Dai Bishop hitting his lines hard and early, things looked positive.
The first half hour of the match, despite being scoreless,
did nothing to suggest anything other than another tight nail-biting match, as
has been the case in the three most recent meetings with the Pirates. Jersey
dominated the early scrums, as you would expect with the strength of Tom Fidler
and Nick Selway, the starting props, and Jersey were looking to move the ball
with every opportunity. In phases they did look dangerous, but the Pirates held
fast, helped by some generous penalty awards, and some excellent defending.
Jerseys attacking intent was dealt a blow on twenty minutes when
the impressive Selway was yellow carded for an alleged punch on entering a
ruck, and from the resulting penalty the Pirates were desperately unlucky not
to score the opening try, knocking on under pressure with a huge overlap on the
right hand side. Credit the home side for not buckling, and they looked set to
withstand the ten minute handicap, especially when Kyle Moyle sent a kickable
penalty wide and it remained scoreless. On 28 minutes, a poor kick from Mark
Foster went right down the throat of Kieran Goss, a missed tackle created a
huge hole in the right side of Jersey’s defence, and Kyle Moyle raced away to
score the opening try, which he duly converted himself.
Harsh on Jersey who had competed well, but when Captain Alex
Rae became the second Jersey player to fall foul of the referee, Jersey began
to visibly wilt. From a penalty, the Pirates won a line-out and from the
resulting maul, they pushed Jack Andrew over for their second, (unconverted)
try.
The Pirates extra man was to prove decisive, as in added
time the Pirates put the game beyond doubt. A catch and drive was held up in
the corner when it looked easier to score, but the ball was recycled and
despite some excellent Jersey defence, Pirates’ James Phillips forced his way
over the line, converted by Moyle, to leave Jersey facing a 19-0 half time deficit.
Jersey came out strongly for the second period. Some fine
attacking play down the left hand side; Mark Fosters chip and chase finally
providing some real penetration as he was unlucky to be stopped with only
metres remaining. The Reds were now moving forwards with real intent, nearly
forcing there way over after a catch and drive from a line-out by the
dependable Dave Markham, which led to a ruck, but Jersey knocked on when well
set.
Ten minutes into the second half, another line break from
Bishop created a platform for Jersey to open their account, but somehow the
ball was turned over and Kieran Goss showed some explosive pace to run the
length of the pitch, virtually unchallenged, ensuring that the Pirates took
home the try bonus point. The conversion was missed and there was to be no
further scoring, but not for lack of trying from The Reds. First Foster made a
good break, but was unable to recycle the ball, and then a cross field kick
from O’Conner to Mark McCrea tested the Pirates resolve. Grant Pointer was
utterly disgusted moments later, when the final pass that left him in the clear
and under the posts was deemed to be forward, denying the former Pirate a consolation
score.
Time and again the Islanders ran into a solid wall of black,
but in trying to force the play to make that telling pass, they made far too
many errors, and the Pirates were able to repel their hosts. There was still time
for Pirates’ number eight, Phillips to become the third player in the sin bin, and
McCrea was unlucky after beating several men down the left, but Jersey yet
again conceded possession and their chance was gone.
Head coach Steve Boden now has a huge job on his hands to
lift the moral of his side after this defeat. Moseley, only four points ahead
of Jersey lie in wait for the Islanders this coming Saturday in what has become
a crucial fixture.
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