Cornish Pirates vs Ampthill – Match Report

Pirates Record a Welcome Win

By Phil Westren

Cornish Pirates 45 – Ampthill 24

Having lost five ‘Champ’ league games on the trot, the Pirates recorded this most welcome bonus point victory against Ampthill, with hooker Sol Moody notching up an impressive four tries in the match.

Because of damage recently inflicted by ‘Storm Goretti’ on the Pirates grandstand at the Mennaye Field, Penzance, and certain resultant problems relating to the same, this tenth versus ninth fixture in Round 14 of the ‘Champ’ had been switched to Camborne.

The Pirates had an air of determination and confidence about them at the start of this first home encounter in 2016, and although the line-out initially faltered, they soon put that element of their game right.

Conditions were inevitably soft underfoot, but it mattered not when they opened their account with a fine try scored wide out right by wing Arthur Relton. Fly-half Arwel Robson added the extras before the Pirates then created their second try when, following a successful catch and drive at the clubhouse corner, it ended with Moody registering the first of his four scores.

So far, so good, but there was better to come when Moody broke clear on a drive to the line and showed his pace to score at the posts. Robson, who at times looked understandably annoyed when felt he was tackled late on occasions, pleasingly added the extras.

The ‘Mob’, to give the visitors their nickname, looked to respond wearing the maroon and gold, and after good work from flanker Ollie Mullarkey – a Henry Pollock lookalike – it was Samoan lock Totoa Auvaa who barrelled over for a try converted by fly-half Louis Grimoldby.

A real plus for the Pirates was the play of skipper Alex Everett, who was making a most welcome return from injury. It was he who inspirationally got the Pirates back on the front foot, and it was following another successful catch and drive, with Moody again perfecting his throw to lock Josh King, that ended with another converted score for the ‘Sol man’. A comfortable four-try bonus point was also in the bag.

📷Pirates' winger Arthur Relton is on his way to scoring the game's opening try. - Photo credit: Brian Tempest

To a man the home team had shown they were up for this contest, and before the break, when they led 38-7, further tries were scored by Moody (his fourth), and centre Chester Ribbons whose effort was converted by Robson.

Hopes were high for the Pirates to continue their found form into the second half, but the start did not bode well. Firstly, prop Alfie Petch, who helped form part of a fine scrummaging eight, departed injured, and they then lost the services of Robson to the sin bin.

Ampthill, who had beaten the Pirates 26-21 at Bedfordshire in October, where Saracens’ 19-year-old prodigy Noah Caluori made his mark when scoring two tries for the hosts, to their credit showed admirable determination to get something out of this latest meeting at Camborne’s Recreation Ground.

Busy about replacement hooker Harrison Dakin scored the Mob’s second try of the match against the now disrupted Cornish side, and after Pirates’ wing Matty Ward crossed for a scintillating try, converted by fly-half Iwan Price-Thomas, tries from centre Oscar Wilson and prop Harrison Courtney – his converted by replacement Rory Morgan – gifted former ‘Pirate’ Dave Ward’s side a bonus point.  

Speaking after the game, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Gavin Cattle said:

“To get the win was satisfying, with our thanks expressed to Camborne for enabling us to play at the ‘Rec’

“After comfortably overcoming those initial shaky line-out concerns, our scrum was impressively dominant, as was most definitely a potent driving maul, which altogether confirmed the power that we have in our pack.

“On the negative side, despite taking the five points from the match our challenge now is how to keep that level of performance going forward when we make changes. Naturally disruptions didn’t help but we dropped off collision-wise in the second half, which was disappointing, and is something we’ll need to focus on.”

Cornish Pirates:   15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Arthur Relton 13 Chester Ribbons 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Matty Ward 10 Arwel Robson 9 Dan Hiscocks; 1 Alessandro Heaney 2 Sol Moody 3 Alfie Petch 4 Charlie Rice 5 Josh King 6 Alex Everett (captain) 7 Jack Forsythe 8 Tomi Agbongbon.

Replacements (all used):   16 Matt Pritchard 17 Billy Young 18 Ollie Andrews 19 Milo Hallam 20 Alfie Bell 21 Will Rigelsford 22 Louie Sinclair 23 Ben Cambriani.

Yellow card:   Robson.

Ampthill:   15 Josh Barton 14 Sam Kildunne 13 Oscar Wilson 12 Sione Va’enuku 11 Seva Kava 10 Louis Grimoldby 9 Efan Jones; 1 Harrison Courtney 2 Seb Smith 3 Callum Norrie 4 Justin Mataele 5 Totoa Auvaa 6 Ollie Mullarkey 7 Charles Rylands (captain) 8 Kima Ravuvu.

Replacements:   16 Harrison Dakin 17 Richard Barrington 18 Jevaughan Warren 19 Jake Parkinson 20 Aaron Gear 21 Rory Morgan 22 Fraser Strachan 23 Matt Salisbury.

Scorers:

Cornish Pirates – tries: Moody (4), Relton, Ribbons, Ward cons: Robson (4), Price-Thomas.

Ampthill – tries Auvaa, Dakin, Wilson, Courtney; cons: Grimoldby, Morgan.

Referee:   Hamish Grant

Assistants:   Mike Lamb & James Pidding

Attendance:   1310

📷It's celebration time for Pirates' hooker Sol Moody who scored an incredible four tries in the match. - Photo credit: Brian Tempest

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