Cornish Pirates Amateurs VS Kingsbridge: Match Report

Photo credit: Brian Tempest – Ben Martin in the thick of the action on his 100th appearance.

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‘Ams’ Make it Three Wins on The Trot

Cornish Pirates Amateurs 34 – Kingsbridge 17

By Phil Westren

Welcoming a side who beat them 62-8 away last November, the Pirates Amateurs recorded this excellent victory against their strong Devon opponents at the Mennaye Field on Saturday.

After the ‘Ams’ opened the scoring with a try registered by scrum-half Sam Carter, to which full-back Ben Wragg added the extras, two more tries scored by skipper Ben Taylor and wing Sam Coogan, one of which was converted, saw them lead 19-7 at the break.

Photo credit: Brian Tempest – Man of the match Ben Wragg.

In a match where stalwart lock forward Ben Martin was proudly making his 100^th appearance for the Pirates, despite unavoidable soft underfoot conditions both sides were commended for the rugby displayed.

The visitors rallied in the second half and offered what appeared a realistic threat, however the Pirates got back on track in style. Centre Josh Semmens scored the team’s fourth try, and to end the contest a superb final effort ended with deserved man of the match Wragg making it to the line, Also, in the process, he recorded a personal tally of 14 points in the match.

Having pleasingly witnessed the Pirates third win on the trot, head coach Murray Westren commented:

“This was a great win. Kingsbridge are a really good side and we had to be as good as we know we can be to beat them.

“We used the hefty defeat away and Ben’s 100^th game as some extra motivation and that, coupled with our actual performance, made it an especially satisfying afternoon at the Mennaye.

“With two league games left, we aim to at least hold on to our present fifth place in Counties 1 Tribute Western West.”

Pirates Amateurs:   15 Ben Wragg 14 Sam Coogan 13 Morgan Holman 12 Josh Semmens 11 Tom Nicholas 10 Oscar Marr 9 Sam Carter; 1 Dylan Arthur 2 Ben Taylor (captain) 3 Dave Penrose 4 James Lambourn 5 Ben Martin 6 Sam Carroll 7 Stan Somers 8 Archie Pilcher.

Replacements:   16 Dan-Rhys Evans 17 Jake Hole 18 Cal Gardner.

Scorers:

Pirates Amateurs – tries: Carter, Taylor, Coogan, Semmens, Wragg; cons; Wragg (3); pen: Wragg.

Kingsbridge – tries: Vincent, Winzer, Banfield; con: Newman.

Match Day Sponsor:   D. Law Scaffolding Limited

Man of the Match:   Ben Wragg

Photo credit: Brian Tempest – Wing Sam Coogan is about to score.

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