Saturday, October 19

Tribute Cornwall and Devon League

Pirates Amateurs 30

SECOND-half tries from Sam Coogan, Ryan Forrester and Connor Bick ensured Bude’s long trip to Penzance ended in a 30-5 defeat at Pirates Amateurs.

Bude travelled to the Mennaye Nursery Ground looking to avoid a fourth defeat in five but were without the likes of Jason Bolt, Charlie Watton, Tremaine Fry, Ed Hilliam-Cooke, Jake Keat and Angus Hodges, who is out until Christmas with a cheekbone injury suffered at Lanner last month.

That meant there was a first start in Cornwall/Devon League rugby for winger George Grigg, while Will Hockridge was handed a rare opportunity at blindside-flanker. Elsewhere, scrum-half Olly Mounce and centre Ryan Butler returned to the side.

Pirates have struggled at the bottom of the table in recent seasons but have shown significant signs of improvement this term and took the lead on eight minutes through Dan-Rhys Evans’ penalty.

Bude got themselves into some promising positions in the first-half but failed to get on the scoreboard, thanks to some solid home defending and their inability to comply with the rules as they gave away eight penalties before the break.

A 33rd minute penalty from Evans, awarded for a no-armed tackle by Matt Williams, extended their lead to 6-0 before Evans added a third kick on the whistle to make it 9-0.

Bude probably needed the first score after the restart but conceded six minutes in as some tidy offloads down the right-wing ended with full-back Sam Coogan going over in the corner. Evans slotted the first of three successful conversions.

Clearly stung into life, Bude then camped themselves in the Pirates 22 for the best part of 15 minutes, but couldn’t find a way through.

When they did, it came in classic fashion, as a driving maul was finished off by Joe Wilson for his eighth try of the season.

But within three minutes of getting themselves back into it, Pirates responded as too many visitors got sucked into the ruck, which allowed the ball to be worked out to the left-hand side for winger Ryan Forrester to finish it off.

Bude needed 18 points in the final 17 minutes to draw level, and despite winger Rory Hodges almost scoring from halfway, they were put out of their misery with ten to go as hooker Connor Bick crashed his way over. Evans made it a hat-trick of kicks as Bude made the long trip home, without an away win to their name in this campaign.

Player/coach Angus Hodges wasn’t best pleased with his side.

He said: “We knew we had a lot to put right from last week (a 19-17 loss to Paignton), but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. A lot of it comes down to our mental and psychological commitment to the game. In the first-half we weren’t very enthusiastic and didn’t show any confidence in our ability.

“When we switched on a bit, we created a few more opportunities, but only once did we manage to turn that into points.

“Being just 9-0 down with the rugby we played, if we pulled our finger out we could have won the game. I was hopeful we’d see an improved second-half performance, but it didn’t come about.

“If we could have scored when we had that spell in the second-half, it could have been a different story, but then we took our foot off the pedal.”

Despite the scoreline, Hodges believes there are things to be encouraged by. He said: “I think we’re going through some teething issues, with the style of play we want to use.

“We need to make the transition between the forwards and backs that bit smoother, which was there in patches. I don’t think technically or tactically we’re that far off, but what we need to change is the energy and attitude levels. The first 40 minutes was so lax.”

Plymstock will arrive at Bencoolen Meadow with six wins and a draw to their name, and Hodges knows they will need to be on top form to win.

He said: “They slipped a bit towards the end of last year but they’re currently top of the league.

“If we give away the number of penalties we are at the moment, they’ll punish us massively for it. At the same time, if we don’t take our chances it’s going to be a very long day. When we get into their red zone (22), we need to make sure we come away with points.”

Bude —

Denford (captain), R Hodges, Bettington, Butler, Grigg, Thomas, Mounce; Williams, Wilson, Allin, Kingdon, Troke, Hockridge, F Fry, Statton.

Replacements: Price, Hill, Gilroy.

Tries: Wilson.

Convs: N/A

Pens: N/A.

Bude’s man-of-the-match: Callum Bettington.