Solid Pirates Performance Despite Availability Issues . . .
Match Report by Neil Summersall.
The Pirates welcomes Corinthians to JSG for this Merit Table game played in sunny but blustery conditions. The Pirates management team of Al Brown and Fortress had a tough week with availabilities but managed to tempt back Tubes, Ryan Bradshaw, Bill Calvert and Andy McKay to make their season debuts. When Ben K and Justin Ross broke down in warmup, Si Womesley was persuaded to swap his camera for his boots.
The Pirates started in bright fashion, with their scrum dominant and Will Smith securing loads of good line out ball. Tubes mighty boot gave the Pirates good field position and after a series of forward drives were repelled, Sean Glasswell picked up and burrowed over for the opening try, converted by Andy Mac. Some strong drives from JP Ward saw the field open for Danny Adams to find a gap and touch down by the posts, again converted by Andy Mac. Corinthians runners were been well contained by the Pirates defence, led by Kieran Martin and following a Smith run, Bradshaw was on hand to touch down. Unfortunately a Corinthians prop could not continue and the game lost flow and the referee brought the first half to an end with the Pirates leading 19-0.
Corinthians started the second half in determined fashion, but Adams intercepted a pass on half way and raced away to score under the posts, with Andy Mac converting. Corinthians replied strongly and an excellent switch move saw them open their account with a converted try. Corinthians scored again, but Ward burst through some tired tackles to score under the posts, a try he converted himself. There was just time for Corinthians to add another try to make the final score Pirates 33 Corinthians 17.