Marika Vakacegu's hat-trick was not enough to seal a win for the Pirates (Pic: Brian Tempest)

Cornish Pirates let a one-point lead slip with just over 10 minutes to go as they eventually went down 31-20 to Nottingham at Camborne on Sunday.

Marika Vakacegu scored a hat-trick of tries for the Pirates, the first coming on 19 minutes, the second on the hour mark and the third on 67 minutes.

That final try made it 20-19 to the home side, only for Nottingham to stage a fightback and clinch victory.

First Andrew Savage touched down, then Rob Harris sealed it in injury time.

"We tried to play quite a bit in the second half, but unfortunately we came up a bit short," Pirates assistant coach Brett Davey told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"It's our errors that are getting us into these problems.

"I thought a lot a lot of the players performed quite well, but performing well and winning matches doesn't always go hand in hand."