GAVIN Cattle wants his Cornish Pirates side to use their 41-31 victory over London Scottish as the ‘springboard’ to attack the last few months of their Championship campaign.
Although not quite at their clinical best on the night, Cattle’s side never looked in danger of missing out against their visitors, who had triumphed 26-15 in the corresponding fixture last October.
Will Trewin and Sol Moody led the way for the hosts, grabbing two tries apiece, whilst there were further touchdowns from Tomi Agbongbon and Dan Hiscocks with Bruce Houston kicking the remainder of their points.
In reply, Scottish - who were competitive for much of the contest - were rewarded for a spirited effort when they claimed a losing try bonus point when replacement Zach Carr scampered over with the last play of the game.
Earlier, Jack Ingall, Harry Browne and Austin Wallis had also found their way over the whitewash for the Londoners.
“It’s good to get the five points,” said Cattle. “I thought the energy and physicality throughout was good, as was our back play which looked the most complete I’ve seen in a long time. We mixed our game up well, kicking well when we had too, then taking the space at other times.
“There are one or two things that we need to work on, especially around some of our execution on certain things, but overall we're pleased and we can use this as the springboard to kick on.”
With little action for either side since the conclusion of the Premiership Rugby Cup – the Pirates had a worthwhile friendly against the Royal Navy to help fill the void – it was the home side who started the brighter, taking the lead inside ten minutes when Trewin was able to cross following some strong approach play involving Charlie McCaig and Matt McNab.
Home joy, however, proved short-lived as Scottish countered soon after, Ingall claiming their opening score, which was converted by Alec Lloyd-Seed, who then added a penalty to put his side in front for the first time.
At the other end, it was not long before the Pirates were reclaiming the initiative, Agbongbon grabbing their second converted score, the imposing No.8 driving over from close range after a period of sustained home pressure.
Under the stewardship of former Scotland international Bryan Redpath, the visitors refused to go quietly. Using their pack to punch their way down field, they worked their way through a series of phases deep inside the home 22, the results of which saw Browne find his way over the whitewash.
The ding-dong nature of the contest showed no sign of abating as half time approached, Trewin grabbing his second, latching onto his own chip in behind, before scampering over for the score.
A yellow card for Scottish centre Will Simonds did little to help the visiting cause, his indiscretion allowing Houston to slot a penalty with the last kick of the half.
Moody struck quickly after the restart with the first of his brace, only for Wallis to counter at the other end with a score of his own.
Hooker Moody added another, again from a well-drilled line-out-move, before Hiscocks added a sixth, finishing off great approach work involving Arthur Relton and Houston.
Although well adrift on the scoreboard, Scottish refused to throw the towel in, their efforts rewarded late on when replacement Carr raced in for a deserved try bonus point.
Cornish Pirates: Will Trewin; Arthur Relton, Charlie McCaig, Chester Ribbons (Joe Elderkin 74), Matt McNab; Bruce Houston (Iwan Jenkins 66); Dan Hiscocks (Will Rigelsford 74); Oisin Michel (Billy Young 56), Sol Moody (Dylan Irvine 68), Jay Tyack (Ollie Andrews 57); Alife Bell (Charlie Rice 53), Josh King; Matt Cannon (Fintan Coleman 68), Alex Everett, Tomi Agbongbon.