You see it had been raining. Not the famous Cornish drizzle my easily-frizzed hair has grown accustom to hate, but big plops of cold rain driving sideways on a gale force wind.
But apparently the Cornish aren’t easily deterred by bad weather.
In fact there was the undeniable feeling that we were all going to enjoy our Sunday (day of rest) simply to spite the weather, flicking our communal Cornish bird at the raging elements.
An hour before kick-off and the jollities were still swinging, largely in the form of a defiantly upbeat brass band keeping the beer tent warm, who then proceeded to the pitch to entertain the vocal, and by now, decidedly swaying crowd.
Huddled like penguins keeping off the worst of the wind, the crowd were entertained to a first quarter of powerful rugby by the Pirates, dominating in the Bedford half, gaining ground which wasn’t retreated upon until the second half.
But points mean prizes and the boys in their decidedly Cornish black and gold away strip just weren’t converting their clean line-outs and strong scrums onto the scoreboard. Bedford had apparently built an invisible wall around the try-line.
As mellow periods of winter sun were overtaken by driving rain, overtaken by mellow sun again, the brass band imploringly churned out the famous riff in Rockey over and over, to gee the Pirates on.
The wind was getting the better of the fly half’s kicking until the third quarter, when a fresh-legged looking Bedford finally put 3 points on the scoreboard.
Never did the Pirates look like they wanted the match more, as defiantly the lads pushed back into the Bedford half and Rhys Jones ran the ball over the try line – much to the delight of the ear-busting cheers in the crowd. This would be the game’s first and last big-pointed period as 5 wasn’t converted to 7 - the conversion flying wide, impeded once again by the wind.
The final quarter saw Bedford sail another 3 points through the posts, and no matter how strong the Pirates looked, their final downfall and loss by a single point can only be put down to bad luck.
I think. The second half of the match was largely dictated to me, as by then my eyes had frozen over and frostbite set in. A thoroughly enjoyable day out none-the-less, and many congratulations to the Pirates for a great show.
For the match report click here
