Post by Jamie Crawford on Feb 23, 2016 10:52:02 GMT
Sunday 28th February 3:00pm
The boys have had a weekend’s break since that magnificent performance to beat Carnegie in the dying minutes of the game.
Similarly rested, the Cornish Pirates were defeated by London Scottish 21-10 to follow their 33-26 defeat by Carnegie at Headingly.
As Clive said in the Free Press on 7th Jan, “Cornish Pirates seem to have turned the corner and are playing well and will be tough side to beat down there,” he said.
Last time we played the Cornish Pirates they were tenth in the Championship, now we come to play them at Mennaye Field the Pirates are up to eighth place after their loss on 13th February; however they have risen higher. The Pirates are sixth in the home league table with a roughly 60% win percentage. The Knights are also sixth in the away league table with a roughly 40% win percentage. Suddenly second playing away against eighth seems a daunting prospect for the Knights given the relative home and away successes in the league.
Early in the season the Pirates started well with two wins in all matches but then it went pear-shaped; they lost seven of their next nine games. We played them six losses into this downward spiral. From 14th November, the Pirates had a ten-game winning streak in the Championship ended by Carnegie at Headingly the day after we drew with Ealing Trailfinders. The Pirates won a losing bonus point from the game, so it was a close result to a top-four team. With the loss to the Scottish exiles last time out that is now two losses on the bounce for the Pirates. The Pirates won’t want a repeat of their early dip in form that could see them in the bottom four. Bottom-placed Ealing Trailfinders are only three games away (with bonus points) from overtaking the Pirates. The Pirates managed to climb back to fifth/sixth after their losing streak but two games later they are looking over their shoulder again. They will target home games for wins after winning the majority of them.
Wing/Full Back Matt Evans is the Pirates’ leading try-scorer Flanker Alex Cheeseman only one try behind Evans and Winger Jack Arnott is just one try behind Cheeseman. Fly Half/Full Back Laurence May is tenth in the league of top kickers in the Championship, May has a penalty strike rate of 93% so the Knights need to keep their discipline, especially in kickable areas.
Other Championship games this weekend:
Saturday 27 February 2016
Jersey (5) v London Welsh (9)
Rotherham Titans (10) v Bedford Blues (4)
Ealing Trailfinders (12) v Moseley (11)
Sunday 28 February 2016
Nottingham (6) v London Scottish (7)
Carnegie (3) v Bristol (1)
Can the Knights reduce the Pirates home win rate percentage or will the Pirates reduce the Knights’ away win rate percentage?
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
The boys have had a weekend’s break since that magnificent performance to beat Carnegie in the dying minutes of the game.
Similarly rested, the Cornish Pirates were defeated by London Scottish 21-10 to follow their 33-26 defeat by Carnegie at Headingly.
As Clive said in the Free Press on 7th Jan, “Cornish Pirates seem to have turned the corner and are playing well and will be tough side to beat down there,” he said.
Last time we played the Cornish Pirates they were tenth in the Championship, now we come to play them at Mennaye Field the Pirates are up to eighth place after their loss on 13th February; however they have risen higher. The Pirates are sixth in the home league table with a roughly 60% win percentage. The Knights are also sixth in the away league table with a roughly 40% win percentage. Suddenly second playing away against eighth seems a daunting prospect for the Knights given the relative home and away successes in the league.
Early in the season the Pirates started well with two wins in all matches but then it went pear-shaped; they lost seven of their next nine games. We played them six losses into this downward spiral. From 14th November, the Pirates had a ten-game winning streak in the Championship ended by Carnegie at Headingly the day after we drew with Ealing Trailfinders. The Pirates won a losing bonus point from the game, so it was a close result to a top-four team. With the loss to the Scottish exiles last time out that is now two losses on the bounce for the Pirates. The Pirates won’t want a repeat of their early dip in form that could see them in the bottom four. Bottom-placed Ealing Trailfinders are only three games away (with bonus points) from overtaking the Pirates. The Pirates managed to climb back to fifth/sixth after their losing streak but two games later they are looking over their shoulder again. They will target home games for wins after winning the majority of them.
Wing/Full Back Matt Evans is the Pirates’ leading try-scorer Flanker Alex Cheeseman only one try behind Evans and Winger Jack Arnott is just one try behind Cheeseman. Fly Half/Full Back Laurence May is tenth in the league of top kickers in the Championship, May has a penalty strike rate of 93% so the Knights need to keep their discipline, especially in kickable areas.
Other Championship games this weekend:
Saturday 27 February 2016
Jersey (5) v London Welsh (9)
Rotherham Titans (10) v Bedford Blues (4)
Ealing Trailfinders (12) v Moseley (11)
Sunday 28 February 2016
Nottingham (6) v London Scottish (7)
Carnegie (3) v Bristol (1)
Can the Knights reduce the Pirates home win rate percentage or will the Pirates reduce the Knights’ away win rate percentage?
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
