CORNISH Pirates joint head coach Gavin Cattle feels his side need to be ‘way better’ despite securing a second league victory in succession on Saturday against previously unbeaten Caldy.

The Wirral-based side arrived in the Duchy with four wins from four, while the Pirates had got off the mark a week earlier when they won at London Scottish following a draw with Doncaster Knights.

The Pirates scored five tries in total and led for the majority of the contest following three tries in six first half minutes, but the visitors continued to dig away as the Cornishmen ran out 34-27 winners at the Mennaye Field.

Speaking at full-time, Cattle said: “I feel the outcome was closer than it should have been but credit to Caldy as they played some good stuff.

“Our penalty count, unfortunately, went through the roof, which was disappointing and is something we’ll look at. The aim was also that we should play by keeping the tempo up, but I think we played into their hands and there are likely things for us to learn from it all.

“Ultimately, despite winning, we need to be way better and weren’t at the level we were last week at London Scottish, or in previous games that we lost. Our scrum wasn’t perhaps as good as it has been, but that can happen when you come up against a more experienced pack who can cause you different problems. It is always frustrating when you can’t fully function on your own ball, and especially so from an attacking perspective.

“We certainly haven’t become a bad team overnight, and there were also of course positives, including taking five points from the match against a side who arrived at this game with a good level of confidence following their four wins on the trot.”