THE Cornish Pirates roared back to winning ways, ending a five-game Championship losing streak with a commanding 45-24 win over Ampthill at Camborne’s Recreation Ground.

In a dominant display, particularly the first when the hosts ran in six first-half tries - hooker Sol Moody scoring four of them – the victory lifted the Pirates moved up to eighth in the table with their sixth win from 14 games.

Naturally, joint-head head Gavin Cattle was full of praise for his side’s return to form.

“It was a really good, strong first-half performance,” said Cattle. “I know we had a shaky start at line-out time, but then we regathered ourselves and showed that we've got some real power in that pack.

“We’ll take the five points, but on the negative side then is that the challenge for us moving forward is how do we keep that level of performance when making changes?

“There were a couple of [sin] bins in there that second half, but having said that even when we were up to 15 we just dropped off collision-wise which is something we're focusing on the minute.”

The Pirates raced to a 38-7 half-time lead, Moody stealing the show, while former Exeter Chiefs team-mates Arthur Relton and Chester Ribbons also crossed the line.

Ampthill fought back after the interval, scoring three tries to secure a bonus point, but Pirates held firm. Matty Ward added a seventh try for the home side, sealing a morale-boosting win that lifts them to eighth in the table.

“We haven’t had any contact time as a team on this pitch,” added Cattle. “I brought the kickers here on Thursday, but that was more around getting to know the slope, just to have a look what they're coming up against.

“It was the players’ day today and it’s great to see them experience that.”