Nottingham held a good account for themselves, staying competitive with one of the top sides in the league Cornish Pirates on an immensely wet and windy Friday night at The Bay, but were unable to get anything out of the game.
The first fifteen minutes passed with little action, with the slippery pitch playing a big part in the slow pace of the game. Eventually though the visitors broke the deadlock, utilising a driving maul following a penalty kicked to the corner. It was the hooker Harry Hocking who got the ball down.
Nottingham nearly got themselves level soon after, David Williams starting a great move by spotting a gap in the purple defence at the halfway line and offloading it to Marcus Ramage to put him through. The defence regathered though and they were able to get back and make the tackle to prevent the try.
It wasn’t long after that though that the Archers found their equaliser, with Archie Van Der Flier pushing through a pile of bodies on the line to get his side off the mark following a well executed driving maul of their own. They then took the lead with a Matthew Arden conversion.
Now down by two, Pirates launched a series of good looking attacks, but Craig Hammond’s men showed an incredible defensive stand, thwarting the seemingly endless attempts from the Cornish forwards to drive over the line from close range, and then eventually turning the ball over.
They were unable to do the same in the closing minutes of the half though, as Pirates came once again trying to bully their way over the line. Nottingham did well to keep them out once again for the most part, but eventually Alex Schwarz peeled away and dove over the line to give his side the lead back heading into the break.
The elements really ramped up in the second half, playing a huge factor in what was once again a very slow start to the half. Neither side was able to carve out any real chances in the relentless wind and rain for the first twenty minutes. That was until Pirates got into a good position at the hour mark, and John Stevens finished, bundling his way over the line to extend their lead to twelve points.
It wasn’t over though, as Nottingham kept putting together a couple of promising looking attacks, mainly through the quick feet of Harry Graham, but weren’t able to get anything out of them.
However, the away side did put the nail in the coffin with just over ten minutes to play. Ruaridh Dawson used his speed to make the initial break and then kicked it for Josh King to chase. It looked as if Ellis Mee would get there first, but a bobble at the last minute gave the Pirate the advantage and he was able to scoop it up and score the bonus point try.
A penalty in the final two minutes for the Pirates was the last meaningful action as the ball trundled into touch with the score 29-7.
Following the loss Nottingham only have one more game to play in the season; a clash with Caldy at the Bay in three weeks time.