By woll
December 13 2006

Not an impressive way to extend their winning run to six and move into second spot in the process; but effective nonetheless. The Pirates will wisely treat this in the 'a win is a win' category and set about moving on to their second tough away fixture within seven days; a top of the table clash with current leaders, Earth Titans.

They will though have to improve several notches, and find a return to the kind of form which has seen them rise to their current fancied status as potential ND 1 championship candidates. The changes in line up with Winn and Barrett stepping into the centres, and a late fitness test failure for McAtee allowing Hylton to start, in other teams would be disruptive. However it was more a case for Nottingham looking to repeat their success over Plymouth and setting about their opponents from the kick off.

The signs weren't promising for the visitors as a knock on from Barlow's starting kick handed Nottingham the initiative. Within sixty seconds the Pirates had infringed twice more and Barlow's successful penalty acted as a just reward to opening the scoring. 3-0

Encouraged by this success, Nottingham sustained this early pressure form the restart, and sought to extend their advantage as soon as possible. The referee further compounded the Cornishman's misery as he consistently found fault with their play, which the Pirates at this point could find no answer too. It came as no surprise then when on seven minutes, former Pirate Tom Barlow, was handed the chance to double his new team's lead.

The subsequent miss which fell short of the posts was a real let off, and yet seemed to kick start the Pirates into action at last. For the first time in the match the visitors begun to look dangerous themselves and did enough to give Sir a reason to penalise Nottingham for the first time also on nine minutes five metres or so outside their own 22. The kick by Di Bernado from the left of the posts sailed through effortlessly to even things to 3 all.

Now the Pirates had found their range and began to string together their passing movements and phase play. The early blips appeared to be a thing of the past as most of the game was now being played in Nottingham's territory. A second Di Bernado penalty seven minutes later confirmed the power shift and it appeared Notts were in danger of facing a long afternoon if not careful.

With the first quarter complete, all that was lacking to confirm the pecking order was a try. Who else better to rectify this then than Pirate's skipper Gavin Cattle? Another promising attack pulled the Nottingham defence from right to left and then concentrated it's efforts towards the corner. With the gain line now only 5m out progress slowed but was relentless all the same. Pack members took it in turn to get the ball closer to the line before it was breached by the Pirate's skipper who took his chance well from very close in.

The conversion attempt from the left touchline missed it's target but the Pirates were clearly settling in and intent on more. Four minutes later and this intent threatened to turn rampant as the Pirates produced an almost carbon copy try, this time with Iva Motusaga enjoying the spoils. Alberto made no mistake this time with the extras, and at 18-3 it was now looking ominous for the home side.

If only it was so predictable this game of rugby? Well no, and for all the anxiety it creates if on the end of this emotion, it's what makes this sport so fascinating. Again the game turned as Notts somehow emerged from their entrenchment to find new heart. On the half hour mark Nirmalendran showed class to make a devastating break to split the Pirates defence in two down the centre. His run deserved more but was halted by some last ditch defence which only delayed the inevitable. The ball was quickly recycled which benefitted Ben Thompson who joyfully went over to bring Nottingham back from the dead. Barlow converted to bring it back to 18-10 and it was definitely game back on!

The home team now sensed they were back in it and it showed as they quickly went back on the attack on regaining possession. The move built swiftly down their left but appeared to be snuffed out by a Vinnecombe tackle. Bearing in mind the recent warnings from the referee about the tackle area, it was perhaps stupid of Lewis not to roll away quicker and he was shown the only card of the game which would have to be served until three minutes into the second period.

The Pirates though are made of sterner stuff these days though, and dug in well to make sure their opponents didn't capitalise on their one man advantage. In fact as Nottingham struggled once more to find a way through, it was the Pirates who scored next from the dependable boot of Di Bernado who punished a silly infringement by the Archers to further extend their lead to 21-10 to end the half with a platform to perhaps work from towards a bonus point win which would edge them ahead of Rotherham to lead the division at the end of week 10.

Nottingham made the first changes at half time with Hammond and Coles on for George and Molenaar respectively. These seemingly made no immediate effect as the Pirates probed in the first minutes and worked another penalty for Di Bernado to slot over to make it 24-10. Almost simaltaneously Vinnecombe returned to the fray and the Pirates had survived the 14 man period with a six point credit.

Clearly not firing on all cylinders the Cornish side continued to seek further reward. An adventureous drop goal attempt by Di Bernado from inside his own half didn't quite find target. And there was a similar outcome with a fifth penalty attempt seconds later. Not deterred, the Pirates continued to look for that elusive third try which almost certainly would ease the tension. Un-characteristically though, in the next quarter of an hour or so three clear cut opportunities were missed that would have sealed things for sure.

Moving into the final quarter then with two clear scores still between the sides and one sensed the Pirates had the win in the bag, with only the scoreline to be decided. Nottingham though had other ideas and still believed they could upset the formbook once more. The introduction of Meek amongst a flurry of replacements by both sides gave them a new dimension. Even so the clock kept ticking relentlessly on and despite all the good build up play, the final product was lacking, perhaps highlighted by Barlow missing a simple kick for the corner to set up a catch and drive opportunity. This error was atoned to a degree with a penalty on 72 mins minutes to give Nottingham hope of at least a losing bonus point to make it 24-13.

The final minutes proved to be interesting as firstly the Pirates squandered a three on one overlap, before seeing a try by Bell wiped out for a forward pass. Anderson in the meantime saw his introduction reduced to only eighteen minutes when he had to in turn be replaced by Makin following a second knock to the head. The first incurring a lengthy stoppage for treatment.

And so we moved into the last two minutes which began deep in Nottingham's half and an infringement in their favour. Lines were cleared well and possession retained to set up a grandstand finish if they could get quick ball, score and leave enough time for one last effort. The Pirates defence at this point was called upon to dig deep one last time. For the most part they did as their right hand corner sustained serious pressure, and they successfully knocked vital seconds off the clock. Something had to give though and in the end it was the referee's patience as he decided enough was enough and awarded a penalty try.

Barlow's conversion to earn a deserved bonus point for his side proved to be the last action of the match and confimred that this Nottingham team are better than their league position suggests. The Pirates on the other hand have once again shown their own pedigree with a win on the back of a below par performance. Such things win trophies as the old sayings go, but they will have to step up a gear if their ascendancy to the the top of the pile is to be realised a week later than desired.

Pirates 24
A Winnan - J Hylton [D Bell 68] - H Barrett - Steve Winn [D Roke 68] - L Vinnecombe [J Moore 78] - A Di Bernardo - G Cattle (Capt) - M Evans [C Cracknell 77] - I Motusaga - S McKeen - J Beardshaw - J Inglis - S Heard [G Anderson 62..Makin 77] - V Ma’asi - A Paver
Replacements [not used]: S Hobson

Tries - G Cattle, I Motusaga
Pens - A Di Bernardo 4 | Cons: A Di Bernardo 1

Yellow Card: L Vinnecombe

Nottingham 20
R Nirmalendran - B Thompson - J Wilson - T Molenaar [W Coles 40] - D Jackson [T Meek 62]- T Barlow - R Springall - T George - A Loney - T Stannard [C Hammond 40]- L Morley (Capt) [S Raven 59]- N Rouse - R Hopkins [N Hall 59]- J Duffey [N Corin 72] - P Cook [M Parr 62]
Replacements [all used]

Tries - Thompson, Penalty
Pens - Barlow 2 | Cons: Barlow 2

Attendance 1702

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