THE Pirates got their new year off to an encouraging start as they emerged comfortable 39-17 winners in North Somerset.

The Cornish side had lost 28-15 in the reverse fixture back in October, so gaining revenge for that defeat, and considering their concerns at home following damage inflicted on their grandstand by ‘Storm Goretti’, proved pleasing.

Having first half advantage of the slope at the War Memorial Recreation Ground, the Pirates played with admirable control and led 12-0 at the break.

Further domination continued in the second half, enabling the team to score some good tries and record a bonus-point victory. The line-out had wobbled at times, but a strong scrum impressed, as did the running and kicking game.

Try scorers for the Pirates included the always determined Sam Carroll, who is normally a back-rower but was utilised in the centre, whilst other try-scorers were prop Ben Taylor, wing Jack Keogh, skipper Stan Somers, wing Callum Walsh and full-back Sam Cahill. Fly-half Rhys Brownfield kicked three conversions and a penalty.

Commenting at the end of a game which saw the Pirates climb up to eighth in the league table, Pirates’ coach John Stevens said: “Underpinned by lots of effort, this was a really good away performance, that delivered for us a fully-deserved win on the road, which have been hard to come by so far this season.

“We played well with the slope for the first 20 minutes and managed field position through good kicking from Rhys Brownfield and Sam Cahill, and although Winscombe to their credit, created periods of pressure, we defended manfully and managed to get to half-time 12-0 up.

“The second half was always going to be tough up the slope, but with our scrum dominance it helped us gain both crucial field position and further opportunities to score to emerge comfortable winners.”

Elsewhere around the club on Saturday, the seconds secured an emphatic 78-0 victory at their Falmouth counterparts. Piran Findlay was named the Pirates man-of-the-match.

WINSCOMBE: 15 Ollie Walrond; 14 Harry Brean, 13 Will Pearce, 12 Sam Dearsley, 11 Jim Rutherford; 10 Dougie Ford, 9 Jay Alvis; 1 Alec Chase, 2 Simon Thompson, 3 Adam Scrase; 4 Aled Corcoran, 5 Tom Hawkins; 6 Tom Brown, 7 Lewis Douglas, 8 Ewan Griffith. Replacements: 16 Frank Worle, 17 Oscar Browne, 18 Harley Walton.

PENZANCE & NEWLYN: 15 Sam Cahill; 14 Callum Walsh, 13 Josh Semmens, 12 Sam Carroll, 11 Jack Keogh; 10 Rhys Brownfield, 9 Oscar Marr; 1 Ben Taylor, 2 Wes Eddy, 3 Dec Prowse; 4 Ben Martin, 5 Nick Nowell; 6 Stan Somers (captain), 7 Tom Hutton, 8 Jamie Eddy. Replacements: 16 Joe Best 17 Tom Hocking.

Pirates’ man-of-the-match: Josh Semmens.