Yorkshire Carnegie
Pirates match report
By Porthostyke
September 23 2013
I should start with a confession and apology. I was once a die-hard Tykes fan. I was at the first ever game Leeds RUFC played. In National 1 I rarely missed a match. But the marketing genius of Headingley (utter contempt for customers, playing "home" games on Mars, etc) has turned me into a fair weather part-time follower. So I didn't recognise many of the players on Friday night. Has Octavio Bartolucci left the club? I am indebted to the Rugby Paper for the details. But a trip to Penzance is not be missed, so I was there. The evening start made the pre-game formalities a bit of a rush, but DartagnanTyke, AramisTyke and I still managed the Yacht, the Benbow (which contained familiar faces), the Humphry Davy and the First and Last before arriving at the Mennaye Field....
The Rugby Paper informs me that 1844 souls were present at the ground. All I can say is that the Pirates are using the same counting system as Leeds use at Headingley. Either that or there were 500 sitting on the stand roof. I thought the atmosphere throughout the game was subdued by Cornish standards. Did I miss the pipe band? Not a good start for Friday night rugby in Cornwall.
The game started in the expected way with Leeds gifting Pirates 10 quick points. Inept defence was to blame, and the small band of Tykes faithful probably feared the worst.
But then things got rather better. The forwards got the ball moving forward, and the new stand-off chap tried a cross-field kick which was gathered, and a young looking blondish lad touched down in the corner. The kick was missed, but at least we hadn't been nilled, we thought.
For the next 20 minutes or so we chomped on pasties while the two teams battled it out in midfield. It was tight, but it did look as if Leeds were getting the upper hand. And just before the half, another young lad (tall, brown curly hair) decided to run through several Cornish tackles to put Leeds level. The conversion went over, and it was apparent that strange things were afoot.
The two teams traded penalties before the half, sending Leeds in just to the good. It should also be recorded that the referee Mr Campbell seemed to me to have a splendid game, for which reason that's the only time he'll be mentioned.
In the second half Leeds were playing towards the end housing their enclave of fans, and they seemed to decided to specifically attack the corner with the day-glo hats. Pirates had been disrupted at half time by the departure of the injured Gavin Cattle, and seemed to lack direction. Leeds attacked, Pirates tackled, but when they managed to clear their lines, Leeds just attacked again. Pirates must have been sick of the sight of the Leeds back row, who seemed to be everywhere.
Sixty minutes came and went without the expected Leeds substitutions. Do we not do that any more? In the end, three subs were not used at all, and two who did get on played less than 10 minutes. Interesting tactics, but why disrupt a team who were starting to totally dominate the opposition?
Worryingly, the new stand-off chap (Hughes, is it?) missed several very kickable penalties, but then it didn't look as it Pirates would score anyway. Eventually, some fine work from the forwards through many phases gave Hampo a sniff of the line, and over her went. Over also went the conversion, and Leeds looked comfortable.
Still Pirates couldn't get out of their half, and the Leeds faithful started to sniff a bonus point. It had to come, and David Doherty was over in the corner to finish off the resistance of his former employers. The conversion was missed, but at 27-13 and in injury time, the fans were not worried.
Pirates managed to get a consolation try in injury time to get themselves a bonus point, but the Leeds defence was now in no mood to allow another, and the game ended 27-20 to Leeds.
The travelling support might have been few in number, but they had been vocal throughout. We moved to the front to cheer the team, who were then led along the line by Doherty - every player shaking every supporter's hand. A great moment that made the 800 mile trip even more worth it. Well done to them.
The players were travelling back that night, but we decided against this and retired to the bar, and then the Alexandra. Friendly locals everywhere - Cornwall is a great place to visit for a game.
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Discussion started by TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged), 23/09/2013 20:19
23/09/2013 20:19
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:05:07:25:42 by Wildwillie .
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:05:07:25:42 by Wildwillie .
Nice write up PT,
You appear to have produced an excellent report despite not recognising many of the players.
Next week I will attempt to follow your fine example by writing a report for the Bedford game despite not knowing many of the laws!!
You appear to have produced an excellent report despite not recognising many of the players.
Next week I will attempt to follow your fine example by writing a report for the Bedford game despite not knowing many of the laws!!
We also had the pleasure of attending Redruths home win over Saafend on saturday, where we seemed to be quite popular thanks to the friday night result - methinks there is some local rivalry down there.
Well done PT on remembering the names of all the pubs visited!
Well done PT on remembering the names of all the pubs visited!
Quote:Dartagnan Tyke
...Well done PT on remembering the names of all the pubs visited!
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