Cornish Pirates stand strong but fall short to Ealing Trailfinders

In a match closely contested throughout at Mennaye Field, the visiting Trailfinders extended the gap beyond Pirates' reach with a late converted try scored by lock Bobby De Wee.

While Pirates outscored Trailfinders in terms of tries through Marlen Walker, John Stevens and Matt McNab, five-pointers from Angus Kernohan and de Wee, and the imperious boot of Craig Willis put the contest beyond reach.

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The hosts were faster out the blocks, with fly-half Bruce Houston firing the ball into the clubhouse corner, which resulted in loosehead prop Walker steering the driving maul to the line for the game's opening try.

Walker, who is in his testimonial year at the club, dotted down for the 25th time in a Pirates shirt since joining in 2015.

As the game moved forward, the visitors clawed back three points thanks to a fly-half Willis' penalty from the 10-metre line.

Pirates soon bounced back, with openside flanker and skipper Stevens leading the way to shrewdly catch defenders napping around the breakdown to score.

Houston this time added the extras.

Ealing crossed the whitewash for the first time of the game as Willis' cross-field kick put the try line at former Ulster wing Kernohan's mercy in the corner.

Willis' following conversion put the half-time score at 12-10 in Pirates' favour.

Trailfinders nudged ahead for the first time following the interval thanks to two penalties kicked by Willis, who would ultimately contribute 16 points in the game.

The Ealing side grew increasingly dominant through the second half, yet it was Pirates who got on the scoreboard next.

Entering the final quarter, replacement scrum-half Ruaridh Dawson's lightning-quick break down the centre got the hosts on the front foot, before Houston nudged the ball through to the chasing McNab, who touched down to reduce the deficit to a solitary point.

Despite Pirates showing some real grit, Trailfinders' Willis kicked another penalty before de Wee managed to score the decisive five-pointer with a short range drive.

Willis stiffened the blow with another conversion, putting the game well beyond the reach of Pirates.

In a post-match interview, Pirates joint head coach, Gavin Cattle, said: "We missed out on crucial moments.

"There were a couple of opportunities in the first half where we missed a driving lineout, missed lineouts, and in such games those things add up.

“We said at halftime that we had scored off pushing the ball behind them, and it was all about who could get that sort of ascendancy in attack to create that."

The result proved hard to swallow, especially since the side had failed to mark Cattle's birthday with a victory.

Cattle continued: "“It was a difficult night weather wise, but you’ve got to hand it to Ealing in that they managed those moments better and edged us in that second forty.

"Having said that, when Matt scored our third try, I thought we had it, but it wasn’t to be."

He concluded: “The final result was a tough one to take but I am proud of the effort, with a ‘bodies on the line’ performance in difficult conditions, a lot of good scrambling back – all things that you want from a Pirates team and which were there in abundance.”