Cornish Pirates: Early mistakes prove costly in Bedford loss

Sam Matavesi celebrated his recall to the Fiji squad with his sixth try of the season for the Pirates

Cornish Pirates boss Alan Paver blamed early mistakes as his side lost for the third time in four games after being edged out 30-29 at home by Bedford.

Sam Matavesi's early try had given Pirates the lead but they trailed 16-10 at half-time after Bedford rallied.

Kyle Moyle scored two tries after the break and Alex Schwarz also crossed as the hosts claimed two bonus points to stay third in the Championship table.

"The mistakes early on really cost us in terms of momentum," Paver said.

"We just couldn't get outside of our third and create any pressure.

"On top of that, the lineout didn't function as well as we had hoped and were starved of the ball - that forced us to overplay and we lost the balance of our game," he added to BBC Radio Cornwall.

Paver says it is up to him and his fellow coaches to address a slump in form, after Pirates had begun the season with four wins to go top of the table.

He added: "We need to have a look at did we get the week right? Have we got the balance right? What are we going to do first?

"The attitude was right out there, the execution wasn't quite right, but how can we help that as a coaching team?"