Pirates claim victory after stern test against Albion

THE Cornish Pirates’ clash with Plymouth Albion made for a compelling encounter at the Devon side’s sunny Brickfields home.

The away team were given a tough examination by a side whose hopes of promotion from National One last season were cruelly dashed in May when losing in the promotion play-off.

The Pirates made several team changes in their squad for this contest, including an opener this season for skipper Alex Everett. Scrum half Will Becconsall, who also didn’t feature at Camborne, started in the ‘9’ shirt, and in the second row Steele Barker was a starter for the first time since rejoining the club.

On a sunny afternoon, former Pirate Iwan Jenkins kicked the game off for the hosts. Albion certainly impressed at the start, and as the Pirates were repeatedly penalised, it gave the opposition opportunities to press for an early score, which came in the tenth minute when hooker Harry Wilkinson was driven over the line from close range for a try converted by Jenkins.

From the restart, the Pirates were forced to defend once more as they continued to fall foul of the referee. Their cause was further hampered when centre Harry Ascherl was yellow-carded. Keen to take advantage, Albion did just that when further applied pressure near the line was rewarded when second-row forward Morgan Eames scored a converted try.

Supporters could be forgiven for looking confused as if this game was not going to script, and it was no surprise to see Pirates’ skipper Everett call his charges into a huddle at the first opportunity. The home side still continued to threaten though, with wings Oscar Stewart and Noah Fenton dangerous performers.

As the half ticked away, the Pirates would at last get their opening score when a nudge from full-back Angus Mawson was followed up by wing Henry Palmer. Fly-half Arwel Robson added the extras and soon after took advantage of space to score a converted try at the posts to make it 14-all.

When the second half got underway, the Pirates looked more confident. They proceeded to take the lead for the first time in the match when Palmer crossed for his second converted try in the match.

Another try for the visitors looked likely when wing Arthur Relton snaffled possession and ran down the right touchline, only to be foiled by Jenkins who cleared the danger. However, the Pirates maintained territorial advantage and speedy Aussie 7s man Palmer registered an excellent personal hat-trick score. Robson converted as he did the Pirates’ final try, scored by Mawson after intercepting and running nearly the length of the field.

The Pirates would lose the services of replacement Josh King to a yellow card, and despite defeat, Albion had the last say when skipper Huw Taylor scored another converted try to make the scoreline 21-35.

Speaking post Saturday’s contest, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Alan Paver said: “Firstly, congratulations to Plymouth on their performance. For us there is a change in tackle height between the two leagues, and you could see last week and this that it created immense problems for us, with penalties given away

“We had to say to the guys we have to adapt, and we must bring the tackle height down because there is a change, so we are going to look at it very closely. That said, I thought Plymouth were outstanding, playing with real pace, real intent, they dominated field position for the majority of the first half.

“Iwan Jenkins at fly-half was special, showing how much his game has risen to another level from when he was with us at his development stage. All that said we had lots of goes at defensive lineouts, which is something we have been working on, and there were one or two things that we did well.

“The second half was a different kettle of fish, as we came out and retained the ball in the right areas and we scored some decent tries, but I think overall we will come away and say we didn’t get a chance to attack and really impose ourselves, so again I have to say well done Plymouth, because there are things that we will be disappointed with.

“Obviously, I don’t want to sound too despondent because overall it was an example of what pre-season friendlies provide. We can learn from them and for both teams it was ultimately a great workout enjoyed by supporters.”

Plymouth Albion: 15 Bobby Wigginton 14 Oscar Stewart 13 Chris Preen 12 Archie Hill 11 Noah Fenton 10 Iwan Jenkins 9 Jack Oulton; `James Kenny 2 Harry Wilkinson 3 Dan Pullinger 4 Huw Taylor (captain) 5 Morgan Eames 6 Jake Clemson 7 Sam Daly 8 Ben Moa.

Replacements: Liam Bishop, Cam Doak, Max Surry, Hudson Edkins, Angus Hodges, Jake Bond, Morgan Stone, Jack Statton, Henry Sellick, Ben Raivalitia, Ben Saunders.

Cornish Pirates: 15 Angus Mawson 14 Arthur Relton 13 Josh Radcliffe 12 Harry Ascherl 11 Henry Palmer 10 Arwel Robson 9 Will Becconsall; 1 Alessandro Heaney 2 Matt Pritchard 3 Tyler Gendall 4 Matt Cannon 5 Steele Barker 6 Alex Everett (captain) 7 Luke Ratcliff 8 Hugh Bokenham.

Replacements: Morgan Nelson, Jamie Clark, Josh King, Milo Hallam, Barnaby Elderkin, Jack Forsythe, Tomi Agbongbon, Dan Hiscocks, Finn Love, Joe Elderkin, Sam Cahill.

Yellow cards: Ascherl, Mawson, King.

Scorers: Plymouth Albion – tries: Wilkinson, Eames Taylor; cons: Jenkins (3). Cornish Pirates – tries: Palmer (3), Robson, Mawson; cons: Robson (5).

Referee: Adam Wookey.