April 12, 2025
Today’s entertainment saw Chinnor entertain another of the full-time sides in the Championship, with the first ever visit to Kingsey Road of Cornish Pirates.
Chinnor Update
After these diaries reported on Chinnor’s spirited display against Coventry two weeks ago, when they fell to a 37-45 defeat, they continued their good form with a 17-17 draw at fourth placed Hartpury University thanks to Connor Slevin kicking a long range penalty with the last kick of the game.
Cornish Pirates
Cornish Pirates is the brand name of the First XV of Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Football Club and play their home games at the 4,000 capacity Mennaye Field.
When the League structure in England was implemented in 1987/88, Penzance and Newlyn were placed in the 8th level Cornwall/Devon League, and gradually worked their way up through Western Counties and South-West Divisions 2 and 1 to reach National 3 South in 2000/01. Level three National 2 was achieved for 2002/03 and immediate promotion saw Penzance and Newlyn in the level 2 National 1 for 2003/04.
The second tier is now labelled the English Championship but the club have remained at this level ever since. The rebranding to Cornish Pirates, with a nod to the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance, was made in 2005/06, as the side moved from Penzance to Truro, and a year later moved to Camborne. However, Pirates moved back to the Mennaye for the 2010/11 season whilst plans for a Stadium For Cornwall continued to be explored, but nothing concreate was ever achieved, and the Pirates have remained in Penzance.
Last season Pirates achieved their best ever finish in the Championship when they finished in 2nd place.
Cornish Pirates This Season
By their high standards Pirates have had a disappointing season, and started the day in 5th place in the Championship table with an 8-0-7 record. Away from the Mennaye they had a 3-0-5 record and had lost their last three away fixtures, at Bedford Blues ( 24-45 ), Ealing Trailfinders ( 29-84 ) and Hartpury University ( 10-34 ).
Pirates three away victories were on the opening day of the season at Nottingham ( 24-18 ), at Caldy ( 22-3 ) and Ampthill ( 33-17 ). However, they fell to a 22-29 loss at backmarkers Cambridge.
Pirates remained a force at home though, with a 5-0-2 record, with both losses coming in their first two home fixtures, as Ealing ( 22-29 ) and Bedford Blues ( 24-28 ) left Cornwall with 5 points. Pirates’ best performances of the season were probably the 46-14 victory over Coventry and the 19-14 success over Doncaster Knights.
The average home attendance for Pirates this season was 1,510, the fourth best in the Championship, behind Chinnor’s 1,710, Bedford’s 2,915 and Coventry’s 3,143.
Cornish Pirates Squad
Irish fly-half Bruce Houston was Pirates leading points scorer with 121 points whilst ex-Hartpury wing Mathew McNab was the joint top try scorer with 7 tries, alongside ex-Exeter University and Exter Chiefs dual registered hooker Sol Moody.
Ex-Blackheath and Rosslyn Park scrum-half Dan Hiscocks had 6 tries to his name as did ex-Exeter University hooker Harry Hocking.
Pirates prop Jay Tyack played on loan at Chinnor in 2015/16 and spent the whole of the 2016/17 season at Kingsey Road, making 35 appearances in total, before leaving for Birmingham Moseley. After returning to Pirates, Tyack left to join Worcester Warriors until they went bankrupt, and is back again with the Pirates after a spell with Bristol Bears.
Wing Robin Wedlake had previously appeared for Plymouth Albion at Kingsey Road, and full-back Will Trewin previously played for Redruth.
Number 8 Tomiwa Agbongbon was on a season long loan from Ealing Trailfinders after previously playing for Loughborough Students, as was lock/number 8 Matt Cannon and centre Harry Yates. Centre Charlie McCaig was on a season long loan from Exeter Chiefs
Recent injuries had led to Pirates bringing more players in on loan. Scrum-half Will Becconsall arrived from Exeter Chiefs and giant lock Mike Etete had come from Blackheath.
Previous Meetings
The two sides had only met on one previous occasion, when the reverse league fixture was played in Penzance in November, and Pirates edge to a 15-13 victory in front of a crowd of 1,272. Chinnor took around 300 supporters for the Friday night fixture, and the Pirates website was impressed by the noise generated by the Chinnor fans, apparently at a level rarely heard at the Mennaye.
The game was not without contraversy. With Chinnor leading 13-5 in the second half, a chargedown was deemed by the referee to be a knock-on, so rather than falling 20-5 behind, Pirates were able to come back and win the contest. An apology from the referee after the game was scant consolation for Chinnor.
Chinnor and Cornish Pirates Connections
Ex-Exeter and Bristol New Zealand centre Junior Fatialofa signed for Chinnor from Pirates in 2014 and through his connections a number of Pirates played on loan at Chinnor over the next three seasons. At one point a wag suggested Chinnor should be renamed The Oxfordshire Pirates !
Wing Kieran Goss arrived on loan in 2015/16 and to the surprise of all the Chinnor fans who saw him play, Goss was released by Pirates at the end of the season. Goss promptly signed for Chinnor for 2016/17 and is still at the club having now made over 180 appearances.
Fly-half Bertie Hopkin had two loan spells from Pirates in 2015/16 and also became a permanent signing in 2016/17, whilst centre Alex Dancer had a short loan spell in 2015/16 and signed permanently for the 2017/18 season. Centre Marcus Beer signed for Chinnor in 2016/17 after being released by Pirates.
Other players to have played for both sides between 2015 to 2017 include hooker Lochryn Williams, back-row forwards Jake Parker, Dean Brooker and Matt Bolwell, prop Jack Andrew and fly-half Will Cargill.
Former fly-halves Jonny Bentley and Laurence May were ex-Pirates but both joined Chinnor from Ealing Trailfinders.
Chinnor back-row forward Harry Dugmore played at Pirates last season on loan from Ealing Trailfinders as did centre Epi Rokodrava, who is now on a season long loan at Chinnor from Trailfinders.
Matchday Information
According to AA route planner, the journey from Penzance to Thame is 290 miles and should normally take five hours. It’s Pirates second shortest journey this season after Hartpury University. A decent number of Pirates supporters had made the journey, a few of them wearing kilts !
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny intervals with a temperature of 20 degrees and Fatbear even took off his jumper. The infamous Chinnor breeze was mostly absent but appeared for a while in the second half.
Adult tickets purchased online were £17 but £14 for members. For over £65s it was £14 and £12 for students. Prices at the gate were £19 for adults and £16 for members. With the member’s 10% discount, a pint of XT Session Amber was £4.95. An online programme had been produced in advance of today’s game.
Pirates made two changes to the XV that started against Cambridge with Arthur Relton coming in at full-back in place of Will Trewin, and Irishman Fintan Coleman in the back row at the expense of Tomiwa Agbongbon. Prior to joining Pirates, Coleman had played in Major League Rugby in the USA.
Chinnor made three changes to the side that drew at Hartpury, all in the forwards, as hooker Alun Walker, and back-row forwards Scott Hall and Dugmore came in for Chris Moore, Johnny Green and Callum Rafferty.
Both sides were surprisingly in change kits. Pirates were in a kit of white shirts and black shorts and socks rather than their usual red and black shirts, with black shorts, whilst for some reason Chinnor were in their away kit of gold shirts and black shorts.
Match Report
Pirates kicked off towards the ring-road end and after Chinnor scrum half Carter returned to halfway, Relton gathered but Houston knocked on the pass. Chinnor were awarded a free-kick at the scrum on half-way and after Carter took a quick tap, the kick from fly-half Connor Slevin bounced into touch inside the Pirates 22.
Pirates lock Josh King won the Pirates line-out, as he was to do for most of the game, and Hiscocks launched a high kick. Chinnor wing Grant Hughes juggled his catch and the Pirates won turnover ball, and then a penalty. Pirates then had a lineout inside the Chinnor 22.
After winning the lineout, Hiscocks made two dummies and then scooted through a huge gap in the Chinnor defence to go over the try line close to the posts for a super solo score. Houston added the extras to make it 0-7 after 5 minutes.
Pirates captain Alex Everitt dropped the restart and his side were offside. Carter took a quick tap but was stopped just short of the tryline, and several drives from the Chinnor forwards were well defended but a penalty was awarded, and kicked to 5 metres.
Chinnor won their line-out and the rolling maul rumbled over, with hooker Walker being credited with the score. The attempted conversion from Slevin drifted wide, so the score was 5-7 after 8 minutes.
After Chinnor kicked the restart back to Pirates, Relton opted to make a catch and took the ball out of play, although it looked like the ball was going straight out of play.
Chinnor kicked from the lineout and knocked on to give Pirates a scrum midway inside their half, from which they were awarded a free-kick. A quick tap sent Mcnab racing down the touchline until he was bundled into touch by Hughes on the Chinnor 22.
Pirates were applying pressure on the Chinnor defence, and after Hiscock was stopped short of the try-line, a long pass found McNab, who was tackled into touch. However, the referee had been playing a penalty advantage. Pirates had several drives for the tryline but eventually Hiscocks looked up and saw McNab in acres of space on the touchline, and a pin-point kick enabled the Pirates winger to catch and cross the whitewash. However, in a perinienal bugbear for Fatbear, McNab was allowed to run around to touchdown under the posts rather than being forced to touchdown out wide. Consequently, Houston had an easy conversion to take the score to 5-14 after 15 minutes.
From the restart, prop Billy Young broke through the centre of the Chinnor defence, and his pass to McCaig, saw the ball spread to McNab to score in the corner for Pirates’ second try in two minutes. A superb touchline conversion from Houston made the score 5-21 after 17 minutes.
Straight from the restart, Pirates launched a similar move as McCaig released McNab who was tackled on the Pirates 10 metre line, but the home side had infringed, and the penalty took Pirates back into the Chinnor 22.
Pirates’ backs were looking sharp, and it looked like they could score every time they had the ball.
Again, King ruled the lineout and Pirates attacked the try-line, but the home defence was good until they were adjudged to have knocked on. Pirates won a penalty at the scrum, and kicked to have the line-out deep inside the Chinnor 22.
In a case of Déjà vu, King won the line-out, Houston kicked cross field, and McNab took the catch and dived over in the corner to secure the try bonus point. Houston’s attempted conversion drifted wide of the uprights so it was now 5-26 after 25 minutes.
Pirates knocked on from the restart, and Chinnor won a scrum penalty to kick to 5 metres. Chinnor spread play wide but a poor pass to Hughes halted the move, and after the ball was reworked Watsom was pinged for not releasing in the tackle, enabling Pirate to clear to their 10 metre line.
Again King won their lineout but Pirates knocked on. Hardwick made a burst through the Pirates defence only to be tap tackled, but after Chinnor recycled possession, Smith raced through the centre of the Pirates defence to score. Slevin added the extras to take the score to 12-26 with 32 minutes on the clock.
Chinnor were now in the ascendancy and a penalty took them to 15 metres from the Pirates line. Dugmore won the line-out and when Chinnor attacked it looked like the Pirates defender had deliberately knocked on, but the referee only awarded a scrum to Chinnor, from which Chinnor won a penalty and were then 5 metres from the Pirates line. However, the tap from Shaw was poor and bounced forward to give Pirates a scrum 5 metres from their try line. Despite a good shove from the Chinnor pack, Agbongbon was able to pick up at the base of the scrum and Hiscocks was able to clear to touch.
Chinnor were still on the attack and Goss knocked on in the tackle as he sought to break through. Houston kicked into the Chinnor half for Dugmore to run back at the Pirates defence, and his offload saw Slevin kick, and McNab made a hash of trying to gather, and the ball bounced into touch for a 50:20.
Chinnor drove from the lineout and Pirates infringed. The pivital moment of the game then occurred as with many Chinnor fans screaming to take the three points just before half-time, Slevin kicked for the corner only to kick the ball dead. Pirates had a drop-out on their 22 which they kicked into the Chinnor half, where Ryan went charging back in the Pirates half. However, Chinnor coughed up possession, and a fly hack forward saw McNab race clear to touch down for this fourth try of the day. Houston was again successful from the tee, so the half-time score became 12-33.
By butchering the kick for the corner, Chinnor had slipped from possibly 15-26 or even 19-26, so Pirates had achieved at least a 10 point swing.
As the sides headed for the dressing rooms, Pirates deserved their lead after the scintillating display from the their backs, but Chinnor had been guilty of wasting several promising attacking positions.
Far from being disheartened, Chinnor started the second half on the front foot, and Carter’s high kick was knocked on, and Pirates were subsequently off-side, enabling Slevin to kick into the Pirates 22. The Chinnor throw went too long, but Slevin was able to pick up and head for the line. After several Chinnor drives, the danger ended with a knock-on to give Pirates a scrum 5 metres from their line. The Pirates scrim was solid and Houston was able to clear to touch.
Passman ran at the centre of the Pirates defence and was illegally stopped so Chinnor were back with a lineout deep inside the Pirates 22. The rolling maul was held up, and the Chinnor move ended with a forward pass, to give Pirates another scrum 5 metres from their line.
Chinnor were now on top but were making too many errors, and despite a good shove from the Chinnor pack, a scrum penalty enabled Pirates to take play to half-way.
After Hughes gathered a high ball, a nice Chinnor move saw Goss released to run 50 yards down the touchline, but a good tackle from McCaig forced him into touch.
Chinnor were now looking impressive, and another flowing move saw Dugmore charge down the touchline but his inside pass to Walker saw the hooker tackled into touch 10 metres short of the tryline. King again won Pirates’ line out ball but Agbongbon knocked on trying to run out of the Pirates 22.
Chinnor lauched wave after wave of attacks, but just when it looked like they were floundering and the ball had been dropped, substitute scrum-half Callum Pascoe showed great skill to kick the ball before it bounced, caught his kick and then sauntered over the try line. Slevin added the extras to take the score to 19-33 after 63 minutes.
At the restart, Pascoe miscued his clearing kick, but he was able to recover to tap back, where Pirates prop Young picked up the ball several yards offside. From the penalty, Chinnor had a lineout on the Pirates 10 metre line but their lineout was poor, but Pirates knocked on to give Chinnor a scrum on half-way.
A dangerous Chinnor attack was then halted by crossing as Slevin looked to run clear. Pirates were finally able to get into the Chinnor half after winning a penalty and kicking to the Chinnor 22. After the lineout was predictable secured, they moved from right to left, but the pass from Wedlake was a couple of feet forward, and unusually at this level, the officials called the forward pass.
Chinnor had the scrum and shortly after, a cute pass at a lazy Pirates forward not retreating gave Chinnor a penalty for offside, and Chinnor were back inside the Pirates half. Another poor lineout tap enabled Pirates substitute Dylan Irvine to claim but when Pirates kicked away possession, Goss ran back into the Pirates half, and the Chinnor forwards won turnover ball, but the chip into the Pirates 22 bounced into touch before Goss could get to it.
Pirates had a lineout 10 metres from their line, and for the first time in the match, Chinnor stole the Pirates lineout through Dugmore, and Rafferty was able to barge over for Chinnor’s fourth try of the game and a bonus point. Slevin’s conversion attempted was missed, so the score had moved to 24-33 after 76 minutes.
The referee announced their would be 7 more minutes to play, and Pirates were now desperately defending their lead, and they infringed at a ruck shortly after the restart, but a knock on from Pascoe gave Pirates the scrum near half-way. A speculative kick looked like it would bounce dead, but a favourable bounce kept it in play, forcing Hughes to touch down in goal.
The dropout from behind the Chinnor line went to close to halfway, and Chinnor forced a penalty for not releasing. The pressure from Chinnor was relentless as they progress into the Pirates 22, and Hall and Smith were both tackled a few metres short of the tryline, but Chinnor were awarded a penalty to set up another 5 metre lineout. Hughes and Onsanaya were both stopped short of the whitewash, but eventually a Chinnor player dived over the line. I had no idea who had scored but Rafferty was again credited with the try, and with the final kick of the game, Slevin converted. The match finished 31-33.
At the final whistle, both sets of supporters seemed to be happy with the final result. The Pirates fans were happy to have won, whilst the Chinnor fans seemed to be pleased to have again ran a full-time side extremely close and taken two points, and had won the second half 19-0. However, too many unforced errors in the first half, and the 10 point swing from failing to kick a penalty only to conceded a try on the stroke of half-time, ultimately proved to be decisive.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7h8YDpP5rI
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