Pirates beat Ampthill to seal sixth successive win
Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle hailed his side's attitude after they won their sixth successive Championship game.The Penzance-based side scored five tries as they beat Ampthill 38-33 at the Mennaye.The victory sees the Pirates move up to third place in the table with a winning run that goes back to the start of last month."It's about building belief," Cattle told BBC Radio Cornwall."You get used to getting through those games and they know what it takes."As you get more familiar with each other, and you grow stronger bonds, you're willing to get off the floor a bit quicker and you can see in the last three or four games that's been at the fore."
Despite Josh King's early try, Pirates trailed 23-7 with five minutes of the first half to go as tries for Kaden Pearce-Paul and Byron Sharwood, along with three Josh Barton penalties, put the visitors in control. But Jack Forsythe and Billy Young went over to make it 23-21 at the break before Matt McNab put the hosts in front after the interval.Rhys Marshall's try levelled it at 28-28 soon after, but King's second try, and a Bruce-Hosyton penalty with eight minutes left, opened up a 10-point lead.But Ampthill ensured they left Cornwall with two losing bonus points as Lekima Ravuvu forced his way over with a minute left."It was a good contest," Cattle said."That first half. we had a couple of tries held over after a real strong maul and Will Trewin was through on an inside ball that didn't go to hand."Our discipline was poor in that first 20 or 30 minutes [with] eight or nine penalties in the first half."The penalty count was an issue, but we addressed that at half-time."I've got to give our maul credit because I think that gave us a foothold in the game."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
19 minutes ago
- Times
Dave Brailsford steps back at Man United in Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos reshuffle
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is planning a major reshuffle that will lead to Sir Dave Brailsford reducing his commitment to Manchester United to return to his director of sport role for Ineos and Geraint Thomas taking a senior leadership position at the professional cycling team when he retires as a rider at the end of this season. Brailsford stood down as team principal of Ineos Grenadiers when Ratcliffe purchased his minority stake in Manchester United and took charge of football operations, and has dedicated more than a year to implementing change at the Premier League club. The season has ended in frustration and disappointment, with United finishing the campaign under Ruben Amorim in 15th, their worst Premier League finish, and failing to secure a back-door route into the Champions League after losing the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur last month. Even so, 61-year-old Brailsford is credited by the British billionaire with overhauling the performance set-up at United, the £50million redevelopment of the club's Carrington training ground and drawing up his Mission 21 plan for a 21st league title and a first championship for the women's team. While Ratcliffe has reduced his overall investment in sport over the past few months, terminating his sponsorship of the All Blacks and an advertising deal with Tottenham while also ending his pursuit of the America's Cup, he remains committed to his cycling team, even if they too hope to secure a new joint-sponsor in another petrochemicals firm, TotalEnergies. The failure of United to secure European football next season also means the French club comes out of trust — originally placed there to comply with Uefa ownership rules — and returns to being the responsibility of the Ineos Sport's team. Brailsford leads that unit and Ratcliffe wants him to return to his former role so that he can oversee that transition as well as revive some of his focus on cycling by supporting the Ineos Grenadiers management team of John Allert, the chief executive, and performance director Scott Drawer. The former British Cycling boss will play a role in helping Thomas make the transition from athlete to team management. Ratcliffe is known to be an admirer of the 39-year-old, having got to know him well as fellow residents in Monaco. He sees the 2018 Tour de France winner and double Olympic champion, who has announced he will retire after the Tour of Britain in September, as leadership material and wants Brailsford to help groom him for such a role. In an interview with Cycling News during the recent Giro d'Italia, Drawer said: 'We'd be crazy not to think about Geraint being part of the team in the future. Geraint's got unique skills that we don't have. We'd like to tap into what Geraint knows. He's got huge respect and credibility in the sport. He's the current team captain and plays a big role in that.'
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Man United 'made contact' with Aston Villa's Emi Martinez, Argentina media claims... with Ruben Amorim in the market for a goalkeeper this summer after Andre Onana's difficult season
Manchester United reportedly made contact with Aston Villa over signing goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the winter transfer window. United, who endured a miserable campaign, finishing in 15th and missing out on European football for just the second time in 35 years, were looking to bolster their squad ahead of a difficult second half of the season. Current shot-stopper Andre Onana made a number of high-profile errors throughout the campaign and was eventually dropped by Ruben Amorim for United's clash against Newcastle in April. And the Cameroonian's inconsistent form saw the Red Devils turn their attention towards the Argentine. Amorim's side contacted Villa about a move for Martinez in the January transfer window but eventually decided to keep faith in Onana, according to Argentine outlet TyC Sports. That decision may have cost United, with Onana's form failing to pick up in the second half of the season. The 29-year-old made a series of errors, including two in a 2-2 draw against Lyon in the first leg of their crucial Europa League quarter-final. It came after Onana had been involved in a war of words with former United - and now Lyon - midfielder Matic. Matic had taken exception to Onana claiming Lyon are a 'very good team' but that 'I think we are better than them', branding the shot-stopper 'one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United history'. Onana's words came back to haunt him as he made mistakes for both Lyon goals and he was jeered by the French side's supporters throughout the game. His poor form culminated in being replaced by Altay Bayinidir, who made his own clanger during United's 4-1 loss to Newcastle. TYC Sports also claim that United will be interested in Martinez if he leaves Villa this summer. The Argentine, who was named the Best Fifa Men's Goalkeeper for the second time in three years in December, looks set to leave Villa Park. The 32-year-old moved to Aston Villa five years ago from Arsenal and has shone, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals this season. He appeared to bid farewell to Villa fans and was in tears during their final home game, a 2-0 win over Tottenham, last month. He was then sent off in the final Premier League game of the season - a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford which saw Villa miss out on the Champions League to Newcastle. Asked about his future ahead of Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifiers, Martinez said: 'I don't know, I come here to play for the national team, and that's the only thing that matters to me right now.
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Premier League opts not to change rules that helped Chelsea comply with PSR
Premier League teams have chosen not to change controversial rules that allow the sale of fixed assets to companies related to a club's ownership. Despite discontent among some clubs over the rules, which have helped Chelsea to meet profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) by selling two Stamford Bridge hotels to businesses linked to their owners, no vote was taken on changing them at the league's annual general meeting in Harrogate on Wednesday. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Under current rules clubs can sell assets to related companies and include the revenue in PSR calculations the following season as long as the deals are seen to have been conducted at fair market value. Chelsea's hotel sales were ultimately cleared by the Premier League after a lengthy assessment which concluded earlier this year. The process led to the value of the deal being restated, however, at £70.5m in Chelsea's latest accounts, down from an original £76.5m. The west London side have also sold their women's team to a related company at a value of almost £200m last year, helping the club record a net profit of £129.6m for the year ended 30 June 2024. The Guardian understands that the league was asked by some clubs to table an amendment that would prevent such deals from being included in PSR calculations in future. That proposal was ultimately removed from a series of votes on rule changes, however, after it became clear there was insufficient support amongst the totality of clubs to pass it. All clubs attended the AGM on Wednesday knowing there would be no vote. This is not the first occasion that clubs have stepped back from changing the rules. Alterations were discussed first in 2021, when the EFL had brought in tougher rules, and then last summer, but no vote was taken on either occasion. The sale of fixed assets cannot be included in revenue under Uefa's financial sustainability rules, however and the Blues are expected to have agree a potential financial settlement with European football's governing body as a result.
