PLYMOUTH Albion ended the Cornish Pirates' unbeaten start to the season on Saturday with a well-deserved 16-8 victory in front of over 4,000 at Brickfields.

The city side, who led 11-3 at half-time, produced a superb team performance to end a three-match losing run.

Tries from prop Danny Porte and winger Ben Mercer, plus six points from the boot of captain Kieran Hallett, handed Albion their first win since the 33-10 opening day success over Birmingham-Solihull.

And chairman of rugby Graham Dawe paid tribute to his players after they outplayed a Pirates side, who had won their opening four matches of the Championship.

"It was a satisfying win," said Dawe.

"The boys worked their socks off and our defence held out against a good Pirates attack.

"We had a lot of trust in our defence because there were a lot of one-on-ones.

"And although Rhodri McAtee scored a cracking try, which put the game in the balance for a bit, the missed conversion was important for us and meant they missed out on a bonus point.

"We managed to play a relatively decent first half and although we missed a few opportunities to expose them, full credit to Pirates because they made a real game of it and they did challenge our defence. They were perhaps unlucky not to go away with something."

Dawe, who saw his side head in at the break eight points clear thanks to a superb Hallett drop-goal in the fifth minute of added-on time, added: "Kieran's drop-goal on half-time was crucial.

"I think 99 per cent of the supporters probably thought it was the wrong decision having watched his earlier effort, but how quickly they had to change their minds."

After going in 11-3 up at the interval, Albion would have expected Pirates to come out firing in the second period.

The visitors did have a real go at their hosts, but Plymouth's defence was only broken once – by a 71st minute Rhodri McAtee try – and even then there was a clear knock-on in the move leading up to the try.

"I don't think Pirates were overly concerned at half-time, it was a difficult wind for them first half," said Dawe.

"But our first 10-15 minutes second half nullified their attack.

"The players had been building for this game and luckily we got a good penalty return against the Pirates – the first five went our way.

"That gave us a bit of confidence and momentum to attack them.

"Defence was obviously crucial, as was our penalty count and the fact we kicked relatively intelligently in different conditions.

"Pirates are a very good team and they have got some good players. We just nudged ahead today, but there is always next time."

Despite their win, Albion have slipped down the table to ninth position after teams around them picked up points.

Next up for Dawe and his players as they bid to embark on a winning run is a trip to Billesley Common to take on a Moseley side who have claimed two successive victories.

"We all admit we had a bad game at Rotherham," said Dawe, referring to Albion's 29-16 defeat on September 13.

"We felt we played okay against Bedford without getting the result, but we can't get carried away with beating Pirates because you don't want complacency in your rugby and you have to respect the next team that comes up.

"We will take the win, enjoy it for what is it, but then we have to go away and prepare for our next match."