Cornish Pirates  5

(try Holland)

London Welsh 20

(tries Scott, D Browne, Kirwan; con Davies; pen Davies)

London Welsh moved up to second in the Greene King IPA Championship, despite seeing their bonus point-winning run come to an end at Mennaye Field yesterday.

A fourth straight win, however, was still enough to take the Exiles above Leeds Carnegie and close the gap on leaders Bristol to three points, with four rounds to go of the regular season.

Tries from Nick Scott and Daniel Browne put Justin Burnell’s side firmly in control at the break and Carl Kirwan’s score midway through the second half looked to have broken Pirates’ resolve.

But frustratingly a fourth try never arrived for the away side and instead Craig Holland’s late touchdown closed out the scoring.

Alex Davies put Welsh ahead with a penalty before Scott stretched their lead with a try following good work from Seb Stegmann. Davies converted.

Welsh bagged a second try when Browne went over from close range.

It was against the run of play that Welsh struck try No 3 after the break.

Stedman released Scott and although the winger was brought down short, his offload sent Kirwan over.

A fourth consecutive bonus point win seemed Welsh’s for the taking.

And they had a chance to do that when Davies’s crossfield kick found Tom May on the left wing, but the bounce was unkind and the Welsh captain was bundled into touch.

But it was Cornish that had the final say with Holland’s late touchdown.

HOW THEY LINED UP

Cornish Pirates: Bodilly, Hendrikson, Riley, James (J Fatialofa 56), Holland, Hallett, Kessell (Fullerton 76), Cahill, Elloway (Channon 67), Prescott (Andrew 67), Patrick (Gaulich 56), Barry (Parker 67), Morgan (capt), Cheesman, Carpenter (Duncan 64).

London Welsh: Awcock, Stegmann, Tincknell, Parker (May 64), Scott, L’Estrange (Lewis 60), Davies, Hepburn (Trevett 56), Vella (Davis 67), Edwards (Tideswell 52), West (Nimmo 61), P Browne, D Browne, Kirwan (Quill 67), Stedman.

Referee: M Fox.

Attendance: 1,387.