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The Cornish Pirates battled doggedly through gloomy conditions to secure their second consecutive Championship victory, beating London Welsh 22-3 at the Mennaye Field.

The home side were decent value for the winning margin by the end, playing with spirit and determination, even if they did stray beyond referee Rowan Kitt's interpretations of the laws occasionally.

Both sides felt Kitt's wrath yesterday afternoon, amassing five yellow cards between them, as Pirates rushed, hassled and spoiled while Welsh grew more and more frustrated. Indeed, both sides reached double figures in the penalty count by full-time.

The Pirates made more of their opportunities with full-back Rob Cook slotting four penalties between the posts as well as adding a conversion to Rhodri McAtee's late try in a satisfying day's work for the Pirates.

Pirates backs coach Harvey Biljon said: "I'm absolutely delighted with the way the boys acquitted themselves today. The performance was outstanding although we still have a lot of things to work on."

The visitors were on the scoreboard first when fly-half Gordon Ross slotted a straightforward penalty after Pirates were caught coming in at the side. However, a similar infringement at the other end gave Cook his chance to level the score just four minutes later.

More Pirates misdemeanours led to second row Mike Myerscough receiving a yellow card as they continued to frustrate Welsh. And before the big lock could return to the action, fly-half Jonny Bentley joined him in the sin-bin.

The 13-man Pirates took the lead. A rampaging run from man-of-the-match flanker Phil Burgess forced some desperate tactics from the visitors who were reduced to 14 men for Gordon Ross's part in preventing a counter-attack try.

Pirates pressed on after kicking the penalty into touch and looked to have crossed the whitewash when Burgess took Dave Ward's short pass under the posts. However, an infringement in the build-up saw the try disallowed. Fortunately, the hosts did have an advantage and Cook slotted a close-range penalty to put them in front.

The Pirates were just as dogged in the early stages of the second half. An offside Welsh back soon gave Cook his third successful penalty, opening up a six-point lead.

Welsh's growing frustration boiled over again and lock Mike Powell stuck out an arm to prevent Pirates skipper Gavin Cattle taking a quick tap penalty. Replacement full-back Grant Pointer stepped up and extended the Pirates' lead to nine points with a penalty kick from just inside his own half.

A fifth Cook penalty amid a flurry of changes for Welsh kept the scoreboard ticking over for the home side.

The cherry on top came with five minutes left – a lung-busting run from midfield by McAtee saw him outpace visiting prop Shawn Pittman to the try-line following a quick turnover inside his own half. Cook then added the conversion.

Cornish Pirates: Cook; Jackson, Hopper, Winn (Luke 72), McAtee; Bentley (Pointer 38), Cattle (capt); Paver (Andrew 40+ 3), Ward (Elloway 79), Brits (Rimmer 80+4); McGlone (Nimmo 79), Myerscough; Morgan (Ward 80), Burgess (Betty 70), Cowan.

Scorers: Try – McAtee; Conversion – Cook; Penalties – Cook (4), Pointer.

Yellow card: Myerscough, Bentley, Elloway.

London Welsh: Sampson (Gibson 57); Drauniniu, Tonga'uiha, Whatling, Claassens; Ross (Thomas 69), Runciman (Lewis 60); Holford (Ward 64), Nelson (Ma'asi 64), Pittman; Purdy, Powell; Mills (capt) (Russell 57), Beech (Hills 45), Fisher.

Scorer: Penalty – Ross

Yellow cards: Ross, Powell.

Referee: Rowan Kitt (RFU).

Attendance: 2,047.