Jersey Reds knock Cornish Pirates off Championship top spot after 33-10 win

Jersey's former Cornish Pirates fly-half Aaron Penberthy kicked 18 points for the islanders

Jersey Reds were praised by Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle after they beat the Championship leaders 33-10.

Tries by James Newey and Charlie Maddison helped the islanders go 17-3 up at half-time before Koch Marx's late try cancelled out the only Pirates touchdown from Sam Matavesi.

The visitors dropped from first to third, with Jersey moving up to sixth place after their third straight win.

"Ultimately, they dominated us on the day," Cattle told BBC Radio Jersey.

"Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the opposition and say 'well done'.

"We didn't fold over, just accuracy let us down and you've got to credit Jersey for putting us under pressure.

"We've had a fantastic start, five wins from seven, we've been dominated for one game, but I'm sure we'll bounce back next week," Cattle added.

Jersey boss Harvey Biljon was delighted by the performance of his side, who were missing nine players because of injury, including skipper Roy Godfrey.

"Fair play to the players, they were there for 80 plus minutes today," he said.

"Look at what the Pirates were doing, they were throwing everything at us, and I also feel we also left a couple of chances out there, there were one or two we should have taken, be they from set piece or open play.

"We've got some work to do to keep building, but let's hope we can maintain this momentum."