Cornish Pirates suffer surprise Richmond defeat

Cornish Pirates have won four and lost three of their Champ games this season [Harry Trump/Cornish Pirates]Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Gavin Cattle says his side must learn from their surprise 33-19 loss at home to struggling Richmond.The London side put in an excellent performance as they came back from 19-7 down in the first quarter to get a bonus-point win.The loss sees Pirates slip to sixth in the Champ table while Richmond's second win of the season sees them move up to 10th place. "The execution was low," Cattle told BBC Radio Cornwall."I thought both teams' intensity was pretty high, it was a physical game, and I think first of all you've got to credit Richmond for muscling up and sticking to it."Consistent Cornish Pirates continue to improve - PaverArthur Relton's ninth-minute try was cancelled out by a score for Archie Brosch a minute later. Tries from Henry Palmer and Milo Hallam saw the hosts go 19-7 up after 21 minutes as it looked as though the win would be routine. But Richmond fought back - James Langston went over in the 31st minute before Josh Addams chased down a kick in the final seconds of the first half to make it 19-19. Xavier Hastings scored immediately after the restart to give Richmond the lead before Will Goffey got their fifth try soon after."They looked dead on their feet after 15 minutes, but when you get a score - that one straight after halftime was a killer off the kick-off and then they converted that driving maul and that energises teams," added Cattle. "They executed in that final third better than we did. We had opportunities, we lost a couple of lineouts or failed mauls and then in the middle third when we get in possession we're not executing in attack. "In that second half they played it well, just frustrated us and then you're chasing the game, playing a bit side to side and not really penetrating their defence."Credit Richmond for that, it's one we'll take the lessons from." Related internet links Cornish Pirates