The experienced heads in the Pirates forward pack laid the foundation for a hard-fought 15-3 victory over Zingari-Richmond at Montecillo.
Ably led once by Warren Kearney at lock, who inspired passion from the tight five, with a tremendous captain's knock, against a fired up Zingari-Richmond side not short on dedication and new-found pride in the jersey.
Kearney's leadership was complimented by the ball-winning skills of Josh Clark both in set and broken play and while Zingari-Richmond's lineout was the only thing to let it down, Clark's ball-winning skills gave his side momentum and the inside back pairing of Stephen Bruce and Tim McCormick capitalised at every opportunity.
Outside them, second-five-eighth Ben Hanley and fullback Hami Davis were dangerous given space and a chance to counter-attack.
Both sides will take a lot out of the game in terms of lessons learnt and Zingari-Richmond will be the better for it. Chris Bell impressed with his leadership skills and all-round play, while fellow loose forward Kris Miller, props Jeremy Bekhuis and Chris Preddy were tireless in defence and quick to broken play. First five-eighth Ben Bradley and centre Nathan Napier shone in back play.
But in a game where title-contenders Pirates was able to score only through mauling close to the Zingari-Richmond line and stretching its defence, it will be a side relieved to have banked four points and not fallen victim to a resurgent Zingari-Richmond.
- Pirates 15 (Josh Clark, Hisa Sasagi tries; Tim McCormick 1 con, 1 pen), Zingari-Richmond 3 (Ben Bradley 1 pen). Halftime: 8-3. Referee Gareth Reed.