It may not have been within the confines of the imposing Twickenham coliseum, but the Cornish Pirates celebrated another famous final victory, this time sinking Irish giants Munster 23-14 at the Recreation Ground yesterday.

Chris Stirling's men lifted the inaugural British & Irish Cup with a highly impressive display on their home turf.

Converted first-half tries from Steve Winn and Rhodri McAtee, coupled with the metronomic boot of New Zealander Johnny Bentley, ensured the Duchy's finest added their second piece of cup silverware in three years.

The celebrations at the final whistle were just as magical as that of Twickenham in 2007 when the Pirates saw off Exeter Chiefs, but maybe this one was just that little bit sweeter because it was done superbly on Cornish soil.

Munster – to their credit – deserve credit for their part in an entertaining encounter. However, three Declan Cusack penalties and a late try from Danny Barnes were to prove not enough in the end for the visitors.

Having progressed through a testing pool stage, which saw them encounter near neighbours Exeter Chiefs and Plymouth Albion, as well as new threats in the form of Welsh side Newport, Scottish outfit Gael Force and Irish force Leinster, the Pirates always knew the latter stages of this competition would prove equally as testing.

With home advantage against Championship rivals Doncaster Knights in last month's semi-final, Stirling's side duly did their bit by advancing through 43-5 at the Recreation Ground.

That impressive victory set-up yesterday's final spectacle against a Munster side, who themselves had overcame some stiff tests in the build-up – amongst others Nottingham, Bristol and Irish counterparts Ulster were all accounted for – as they arrived in the far west of England.

Not surprisingly, the early stages were tense as the respected pack of forwards pushed and probed to gain the early ascendancy. It was, however, the visitors who started the brighter and twice within the first five minutes they were afforded penalty chances to break the deadlock.

The first came on two minutes when Pirates prop Alan Paver was adjudged to have dropped a scrum, the second came three minutes later when Blair Cowan was adjudged by Welsh referee Leighton Hodges to have not released his man following a tackle.

On both occasions, Munster fly-half Cusack pushed his kick wide of the sticks, much to the relief of the home faithful, who themselves had been whipped into a pre-match frenzy by the colourful musicians from the Falmouth Marine Band.

With the Munster threat stemmed, it was then the turn of the Pirates to have their first shot at the target after visiting captain Peter O'Mahony felled Bentley with a crude high tackle 40 metres out.

A little dazed, the Kiwi back rose to his feet and was narrowly off target with his long-range effort, which drifted just wide of the left post.

The confidence, though, was growing within the Cornish camp and when they tore into their opposition again on 17 minutes, finally the game saw its first points. Good build-up play involving Be ntley and Cowan saw them punch big holes into the Munster rearguard from which skipper Gavin Cattle popped the ball into the path of the onrushing Winn, who scampered in under the posts for Bentley to convert.

Immediately, the Irishmen countered as Cusack made it third time lucky when he plundered a penalty on 20 minutes after Rob Elloway was the latest home forward to fall foul of the referee.

Bentley and Cusack exchanged penalties at either end, before the Pirates – who were now bossing the exchanges in all areas – clicked into another gear to sail further into a distant lead.

Winger Nick Jackson just failed to latch onto a looping pass from Winn, one of five survivors from the National Trophy winning side of 2007, before a five-metre scrum saw Cowan pick up from the base, the No.8 fed Cattle, who in turn fed Wes Davies, who was able to offload superbly in the tackle to the waiting McAtee, who dived over in the right-hand corner.

Bentley administered a stunning touchline conversion, before plundering an equally good penalty on 40 minutes to put the home side firmly in control of things 20-6 at the interval.

Munster emerged from their Camborne bunker looking to get their game plan firmly back on track. Certainly their initial burst looked as though they may yet cause a few worries within the home camp – and when Cusack cut the lead with a third penalty, the Irishmen's tails were at last beginning to wag.

The Pirates were in no mood to surrender their advantage and to a man they dug in valiantly to repel the threat of the 'Men in Red'. Jackson in particular, showed the desire that was burning within the home fires, twice knocking over his opposite number with some bone-crunching hits.

It lifted not only his fellow comrades, but also the supporters who had packed every corner of the Rec. And by the hour mark, the Pirates were again adding to their tally, Bentley floating over another well-judged left-footed effort from 30 metres out to make it 23-9.

Munster continued to throw everything at the Pirates in the closing stages, but again the raids were continually halted by the outstanding home defence. Not for the first time this season, Dave Ward was at the heart of all the good work, continually poaching the ball from the many Munster rucks and mauls.

With Stirling using the final moments to run all his bench, Munster's attacking endeavours were finally rewarded deep into injury time when the visitors worked the ball at speed from right to left to winger Barnes, who dotted down in the left corner.

By then, the Camborne celebrations were already in full flow and as the Marine Band trooped across the field at the final whistle, this was a day to remember for the Pirates and for Cornish rugby.