National Division 1

11th November 2006

Earth Arena

2.00pm

Titans 18

Pirates 24

Earth Titans

15 Michael Whitehead, 14 Brian Tuohy, 13 Brendan Burke, 12 Bernard Hennessey, 11 Tom Allen, 10 Gareth Steenson (Claassens 73), 9 Joe Bedford (Blackwood 80), 1 Sam Walsh, 2 Neil Hanna (Conroy 67), 3 Adam Hopcroft, 4 Henry Head (McGowan 56), 5 Erik Lund (Jacobsz 66), 6 Hendre Fourie, 7 Neil Cochrane (Capt) (McComish 43), 8 Jannie Bornman.

Replacements: 16 Steve Croall, 17 Michael McComish, 18 Nigel Conroy, 19 Louis McGowan, 20 Barry Jacobsz, 21 Errie Claassens, 22 Jamie Blackwood

Cornish Pirates

15 Adryan Winnan, 14 Rhodri McAtee, 13 Henry Barrett, 12 Steve Winn, 11 Lewis Vinnecomb, 10 Alberto Di Bernardo, 9 Gavin Cattle (Capt), 1 Alan Paver, 2 Viliami Ma’asi, 3 Sam Heard, 4 James Inglis, 5 Joe Beardshaw, 6 Stan McKeen, 7 Iva Motusaga, 8 Matt Evans.

Replacements: 16 James Moore, 17 Jonny Hylton, 18 Duncan Roke, 19 Chris Cracknell, 20 Scott Hobson, 21 Nick Makin, 22 Dan Seal.

Afterwards a disappointed Andre Bester said, “There was no lack of effort from the boys, but in the second half we were just not good enough. It was a 20 plus point wind and we didn’t score sufficient in the first half.

“At the end of the day though the race is far from dead, it’s not a sprint it’s a long, long marathon. Everyone has to play everyone and we’ll see what happens. The bottom line however is we weren’t good enough in the second half.

“We are going through a sticky patch right now, but the character of the boys will show and the amateur ethos will show.”

Bester went on the pay tribute to his players and the opposition, “I have to take my hat off to my players, they put in an unbelievable effort and you cannot fault them at all. But the better team on the day won, they controlled the game very, very well.”

Playing with the strong wind in the first half, Roth nudged into a 6-0 lead within the first 10 minutes. Gareth Steenson’s reliable boot once again secured early points for Rotherham. His latter kick being a monster one from inside his own half.

On 20 minutes Roth added to their lead with a try from Bernard Hennessey. A catch and drive in the Pirates 22 was rumbled on by the feisty home pack and not for the first time this season, Hennessey popped up in the middle of a maul to touch down for an unconverted try.

On 32 minutes a nice break from the alert Joe Bedford culminated in Tom Allen going over in the left corner. However referee Dale Hewitt pulled the move back for a forward pass from Mike Whitehead. Referee Hewitt had a splendid game.

Three minutes before the break Pirates loose head prop should have been yellow carded for pulling down a Roth maul just five metres out. However, luckily for him, referee Hewitt was on the other side of the maul.

Not to be undone though, on half time Rotherham did add to their tally. Turn over ball was fed to Jannie Bornman who made a nice break before off-loading to Whitehead. Whitehead’s sharp pass found Steenson who cut sweetly back inside to score near the corner. The fly-half dusted himself down to make the difficult conversion.

Pirates half time Oranges must have been pretty special, in view of what was about to happen in the second half. Pirates benefactor Dickie Evans must have flown them in especially from his private stock. Although Head Coach Jim McKay said afterwards that he “wasn’t too concerned at half time, due to the severity of the wind.”

Just 30 seconds into the 2^nd half and the Cornish Pirates were back into the game. The ball somehow popped out of a Rotherham ruck just inside their own 22. Quickest to react was scrum half Gavin Cattle and after he kicked on, the ball bounced up nicely for him to touch down near the sticks. Alberto Di Bernardo tagged on the extras.

On 45 minutes Brendan Burke was sin-binned for not rolling away in a ruck near the Roth line. When he returned Pirates had reduced their arrears from eleven points, down to one.

First of all Di Bernardo converted the penalty for Burke’s indiscretion and then 9 minutes later centre Steve Winn ran in all too easily after collecting the ball 15 metres out following a Pirates scrum.

Although there was 25 minutes of the game remaining, there was an inevitability feel that the Pirates would prove too strong for the hosts in the end. And eleven minutes from time the visitors got what would prove to be the wining score.

Pirates won a scrum near the Roth 22, the ball was spread quickly along the back line and up popped wing Lewis Vinnecomb to just touch down in the corner. Di Bernardo successfully made the conversion from touch.

Roth tried their utmost to restore their advantage but found it very difficult to get out of their own half. In fact it was Pirates that looked most threatening late on as they chased the wining bonus point.

Full Time: Rotherham 18-24 Cornish Pirates

Pirates fully deserved their win and looked the most accomplished side that Roth has played so far this season. But it should not be all doom and gloom at Clifton Lane.

There is still an awful lot of rugby still to be played this season. There have been plenty of shocks so far and no doubt more to come. Rotherham needs to keep on believing and get back to wining ways as soon as possible.

Four points away to Bedford this Saturday would be the perfect tonic for all concerned at Roth.

Attendance: 1412

Other Weekend Results

Sat 11 November 06

Exeter 21-35 Leeds
London Welsh 22-26 Pertemps Bees
Moseley 0-22 Doncaster
Newbury 34-15 Otley
Plymouth Albion 30-6 Sedgley Park

Sun 12 November 06

Coventry 46-12 Waterloo
Nottingham 29-28 Bedford

National Division 1

Bedford v Rotherham - 18 November, at Goldington Road.

kick off 3.00pm