London Scottish picked up a bonus point win against high flying Cornish Pirates on Friday night at the RAG. Scoring four tries to Pirates’ three, the Exiles controlled the game throughout and came away with a much deserved win.
Cornish Pirates started the game the stronger, gaining territory and possession in the opening minutes. However, they were unable to convert this pressure into points thanks to a resolute and aggressive London Scottish defence.
Scottish would then click into gear and score the night’s first points. A lovely set of phaseplay kicked off by a nice half break and offload by Lucas Friday, Scottish flashed down the right wing through Hayden Hyde who was stopped just short. Will Hobson followed up before George Hammond would crash over the line for the score. Alec Lloyd-Seed added the extras from the touchline to extend the lead.
The Exiles would follow up this score with another lovely flowing move. Again Hyde make the break down the right hand side and found captain Bailey Ransom with the offload for the flanker to dive in under the posts to make the score 14-0.
Scottish would make it three unanswered tries when Kerr broke through the middle and linked up with Hyde. The winger’s offload went awry but the referee adjudged it to have gone backwards before Friday dove on the loose ball to give the home side a three score advantage.
Pirates would hit back on half time with a try in the corner from a crossfield kick to make the score 21-5 at the break.
Scottish managed the second half well by pushing Pirates back into their own half through a series of kicks deep into the 22 forcing them to run the ball from deep. This pressure resulted in penalties and a kick to the corner for the Exiles.
In a brave moment, Scottish went for a front peel move that worked a treat. Jake Spurway linked up with Sam Riley for the score and the bonus point.
With a 21 point lead at this stage, Pirates began to chase the game and scored two tries in the dying minutes. However, they did not have the time to overcome the deficit meaning London Scottish picked up their first win of the season lifting them up the table.
