CORNISH Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle admits they’ve given themselves ‘a mountain to climb’ following Saturday’s 36-12 Champ Rugby defeat at high-flying Bedford Blues.

The Cornishmen, who were without joint head coach Alan Paver due to the start of his six-match ban following his red card against Worcester Warriors the week before, trailed 19-5 at the break despite playing down the Goldington Road slope in the first half, and conceded a further three tries after the restart as they dropped out of the play-off places where they sit two points behind sixth-placed Hartpury.

Reflecting on the game, Cattle said: “We had plenty of possession but couldn’t make best use of it because of lack of execution. Also, in making a couple of errors in that first half, it perhaps clouded our decision-making.

“Having said that, credit to Bedford, who were on top physically, especially in examples such as holding us up in the tackle. They did well there, plus with post-contact pressure it gave us messy ball.

“Overloading in the rucks we were getting turned over, so it’s something we’ll have to look at ahead of next week because Chinnor will be licking their lips otherwise, and we just need to be better in that final third.

“As for the line-out, it was very windy and a bit of a lottery. I felt we were perhaps harshly done by with a couple of not straights, but again it’s something else we need to look at and ultimately execute better.”

On the prospects of making the play-offs, Cattle added: “Let’s face it, we have left ourselves a mountain to climb now, starting with Chinnor on Saturday (2.30pm) at home and then Ealing away, Coventry home and finally Hartpury away. So I think each game is a cup final for us now, and it will be interesting how we respond.”