The Cornish Pirates’ latest reversal at London Scottish has brought about murmurings of disquiet amongst some.
There is no question that just two wins from the opening six games is not a return that the club would have hoped for as the Championship makes way for the opening fixtures in the British & Irish Cup this weekend.
This was always going to be a season to tread water, with the stadium plans still a little way off before coming into fruition, the Pirates find themselves between a rock and a hard place.
It may well be that the B&I Cup will prove to be the focal point for this season.
Pirates begin their campaign at home to Welsh Premiership side Carmarthan Quins on Sunday, kick-off 3 p.m.
You can read Phil Westren’s match report from the Cornish Pirates Offy site in the link
In National League 2 a mixed day for our two Cornish sides. Redruth made it five wins out of five with a 36-19 win over Canterbury at the Rec. Five first half tries, including a hat-trick from winger Lewis Vinnicombe set the Reds on the road to victory. Man-of-the-match scrum-half Greg Goodfellow scored a memorable solo try, whilst skipper Chris Fuca finished off a move involving forwards and backs.
The second half was much scrappier with No.8 Tom Duncan getting the only Reds try of the half. Paul Thirlby added three conversions.
The Cornish All Blacks found leaders Henley Hawks too hot to handle at Dry Leas especially when having prop Neil Bayliss dismissed for a second yellow card offence early in the second half. Already trailing 19-10 Hawks made sure of the win. Scrum-half Neil Webber got the All Blacks try with Kieron Lewitt adding the kicks. Final score Henley 26-13 Launceston.
A good day for Cornwall in Tribute South West 1 West with wins for both Camborne and Wadebridge Camels. Camborne won at Cleve 24-19 thanks to tries from Dave Roberts, Laurie Manna and Aaron Hunt. Dave Mankee adding three penalties.
Camels won at Sidmouth 29-14 with tries from Will Pengelly (2), Sam Stone and Adam Collings. James Grubb kicking three conversions and a penalty.
Those wins put Camborne second and Camels third in the table handily placed.
In Tribute Western Counties West, St. Austell march on at the top of the table after defeating Torquay Athletic 41-31 at Tregorrick. Saints ran in seven tries from Matt Shepherd, Sam Rhodes, Alex Welland, James Earp, Sam Tank, Mark Martin and Sean Haley. Shepherd adding four conversions.
Twelve man Truro held out for a win at Kingsbridge 28-26. With Jack Tidball sent off and two players in the bin Truro kept their opponents at bay in a torrid finale.
Penryn defeated Tavistock 53-29. Brough’s tries came from Dan Booth (2), Alex Ducker (2), Andy Seviour (2), Grant Randlesome and skipper Jordan Rose, with Jake Seviour adding two conversions and three pealties.
Bude slipped to the bottom of the table when they lost at Honiton 16-14. Dan Tout and Luke Dunkin scored the tries for the North Cornwall side with Dan Pearce the conversions.
A good win for London Cornish in London SW2. On the weekend when the club were celebrating their golden jubilee in Newquay, Cornish won 20-8 at Old Reigatian.
In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League, St. Ives continue to nkeep the pressure on near the top of the table after a 32-5win over Withycombe. Once again Kyle Moyle, who this week received the Tony Mead Memorial Shield as our Cornwall U.20 player for 2012, got on the scoresheet with a brace of tries. Dean Rainey and Louis Stevens scored the other tries for the Hakes while Ceiron Thomas kicked the other points.
Saltash suffered a second defeat losing at Moorlands 14-11 to Teignmouth.
Pirates Amateurs had a good win at home against Wessex 41 – 16, whilst Newquay Hornets got the better of Falmouth 43-22 at the Sportscentre.
On Saturday at Redruth the draw was made for the Quarter-finals of both the Tribute Cornwall KO Cup and the Tribute Cornwall Clubs Cup.
Tribute Cornwall KO Cup
St. Austell v Wadebridge Camels
Camborne v Truro
Bude v Penryn
Newquay Hornets v St. Ives
Tribute Cornwall Clubs Cup
Redruth Albany v Veor
St. Agnes v Helston
Camborne SoM v St. Day
Perranporth v Stithians
All Quarter-final ties for both cup must be played by 10th November 2012.
