CORNISH Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle hailed his side for securing an ‘important bonus point’ as they head into the final two fixtures in this year’s Champ rugby season right in the mix for the play-offs.

Although they were beaten 41-26 in South West London, tries from Milo Hallam, Matt Pritchard, Sol Moody and Matty Ward, ensure they head into their upcoming fixtures with rivals Coventry and Hartpury still in with a shout of finishing in the all-important top six.

Cattle, who had to go without a number of key players for various reasons, including three loanees from Saturday’s opponents, said: “Against an Ealing side that had just a bit too much quality, we are really proud of the effort put in by the boys.

“To go in at half-time ahead we were naturally pretty buoyant, but there was always the possibility of a reaction, though I felt that the yellow card for Arwel (Robson) was perhaps a bit harsh.

“To our credit, we kept going though and our task, whether winning or losing, was to strive to at least score four tries, which we pleasingly managed to achieve to come away with what could prove an important bonus point.

“Making their debuts at shortish notice and playing against the most physical and best drilled side in the league, both Oscar Beckerleg and Ben Coen, who have only been with us for a few days, deserve mention, as they did well.”

The Pirates, who are three points adrift of final day opponents Hartpury, host third-placed Coventry next Saturday (May 2), and Cattle can’t wait for the game.

He concluded: “First and foremost, the focus must be to win our remaining two games against Coventry and Hartpury, starting with Coventry at the Mennaye on Saturday week when we hope a big home crowd will get behind us.”