CORNISH Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle has hit out at festive fixture scheduling after his side were asked to back up from a bruising encounter with Championship leaders Ealing Trailfinders with just four days’ rest.

The Pirates were beaten 41–26 by Coventry at the Butts Park Arena on New Year’s Day, just days after a physically demanding 41–14 home defeat to Ealing on December 27. The result marked a fifth consecutive loss for the Cornish side, who sit eighth in the table.

Cattle made his frustrations clear, questioning how such a short turnaround could be justified. He said: “I don’t agree with the short turnaround, four days, I think it’s too close. We’re talking about player welfare, there’s something for a discussion for another time.

“But that’s not an excuse, I’m chuffed with the way we responded physically in that game but we need more.

“We can look at the score in isolation, but we’ve played top of the league in a physical game at home on Saturday and been asked to turn that around by Thursday physically - with a small squad, that’s a tough challenge.”

Despite the defeat, Cattle was encouraged by his team’s response. The Pirates fell 15–0 behind early on but hit back with quick tries from Dan Hiscocks and Josh King to cut the gap. However, a sin-binning for Rory Suttor midway through the first half proved costly as Coventry capitalised, extending their lead to 27–12.

Further discipline issues followed, with Buster Rice yellow-carded on the stroke of half-time, forcing the Pirates to start the second half with 14 men. Even so, they showed resilience, holding Coventry scoreless early in the second period and narrowing the deficit through a Matty Ward try.

The hosts edged away again before Rice crossed late on to set up a tense finish, but a last-gasp breakaway try sealed the win for Coventry. Cattle praised his players’ fight, saying the performance showed a marked improvement and finally resembled the physical, combative Pirates side he expects.

While results remain a concern, Cattle believes the display offers something to build on, even though his anger over the festive scheduling remains firmly unresolved.

“I just want to credit the boys for that fight,” added Cattle. “I thought that was a marked improvement over the last two weeks – that runaway try at the end most probably masked the score a little bit.

“We had opportunities to score a couple more, a dropped ball over the line, and if we’d got that try under the sticks there you've got a bit of a frantic finish which we were hoping for.

“But you have to give Coventry credit, they started well, started fast. We’re in a results business, I get it, but when you look at the performance there, that's something we can hang our hat on.

“Whereas previous weeks I don't feel we've had it – but I feel our collision went up both sides of the ball and that looked more like a Pirates side.”