The Billesley boys had new fly half Brad Davies’ touchline conversion to thank for ensuring a share of the spoils. With the last kick of the game the 27-year-old brilliantly split the uprights after a late try by Jack Pons. That not only leveled the scores – it also made sure Mose ended the game with more to show for their efforts than the visitors.
While Pirates had to settle for just two points, the hosts grabbed three after securing a try bonus as Anthony Carter also crossed twice and Andy Reay once. But it would not have meant as much had Davies not produced his heroics. Faced with an acute angle and an unpredictable wind the play-maker stepped up nervelessly.
And Ian Smith never expected anything else. "We worked extremely hard to dig in and showed tremendous character' the head coach said. "The kick against the wind was tremendous. I expected him to get it, though. I have seen him win a game for Gloucester against Leicester doing that so in my mind it was never in doubt. He played completely differently today, we are looking at a different alignment for him, he was not used to it but he took it on. He certainly changed his game as we asked him to and it was much improved. It was a nice movement at the end for Jack Pons' try, I am not sure about the build up, it was a bit turgid but the end result was excellent. The hands and running lines were good to put Jack in at the corner."
But Moseley also conceded three tries at least two of which can be attributed to their own shortcomings.The worst of them came with a quarter hour to go when, with the scores tied at 19-19, Moseley missed touch three times and invited the Cornishmen to attack.
They did so willingly and Phil Burgess capitalised on the poor kicking and weak tackling to score. "We have got to look at aspects of our game in which the message is not getting through,” Smith said.“We have got to keep working at it, and other players can help in that area. It’s alright looking at one man and saying he kicked poorly but there are other players who can kick and who should be kicking. That’s the key to it, taking more responsibility."
It was the Pirates who took the early lead. Gavin Cattle took a quick fifth-minute tap and from a ruck close in Carl Rimmer surged over. Just after the midway point in the half, an adroit pass out of the tackle by Paul Andrew put Dave Ward through the first line of defence. The hooker produced a slinky swing of the hips to go around Carter without breaking stride and in their desperation to plug the holes Mose were offside. This time Cook took the three points.
Billesley boys cut the lead to three a quarter hour before the interval when Paul Spivey claimed a lineout Carter plunged through to grab his first try since his summer move from Doncaster. Moseley were well on top by now and they forced a sequence of penalties from 5m scrums. Eventually Carter wriggled over near the sticks and converted to make it 12-8. Cook narrowed the deficit to a point soon after the restart but ten minutes later Reay went over for his first of the campaign.
With the Red and Blacks scrum on the rumble Taylor whipped the ball out to Davies who had Reay on his shoulder.The inside centre spun out of a tackle and powered his way over. Davies added the extras for 19-11. But Nick Jackson cut through a wafer thin defence on a simple scissors move just before the hour and Cook leveled with a penalty moments later after Moseley failed to roll away. Then a poor clearance by Nathan Bressington and two missed tackles gifted Burgess what looked like the winning score.
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