Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle praises squad despite loss to Ealing

The Pirates were down 14-0 inside the first 15 minutes before Will Trewin struck for the visitors.

Cornish Pirates head coach Gavin Cattle praised his squad for a "good shift" after their five-game winning streak came to an end at Ealing Trailfinders.

Pirates were beaten 40-12 by the Championship leaders and received three yellow cards during the game.

The Pirates were down 14-0 inside the first 15 minutes before Will Trewin scored to make it 14-5, with Tom Pittman converting.

However, Ealing showed their quality and by the time Rhys Williams got Pirates' second try it was merely a consolation to make the score 33-12.

On the back of a hard fought win away at Bedford Blues, Pirates welcomed the return of key players in John Stevens, Bruce Houston and prop Jack Andrew.

'Couldn't replicate the energy'

Despite the extra resources being made available, Cattle thought his side struggled early on in the game.

"You could see our energy wasn't at the level it's been in the last couple of weeks," he told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"If you get that first collision wrong on this pitch then it's harder to get your momentum back and defend."

Cattle added that "stern words" were needed at half-time.

"We showed a bit of grit and turned it back on in the second half to make it more of an arm wrestle," he added.

"I'm pleased overall with this block of games. We've gone well and [on Saturday] we just couldn't replicate that energy.

"Obviously, [Ealing] were fully resourced and we didn't deal with the power game in that first half."

Pirates head to the north west to take on Caldy in their next game on 2 March, and Cattle has confidence in his players, saying they are "making strides".

"We showed glimpses in that second half but we need that emotion and physicality week in, week out in this league, and that's going to be the challenge," he said.