FRIENDLY
18/11/06
LCRFC CLUB XV 2As vs HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM CLUB XV

London Cornish Club XV 21 - Hammersmith & Fulham Club XV 0

The Club XV contributed strongly to the bouncebackability of London Cornish on Saturday at the Richardson Evans Memorial Park fields on a fine day in Roehampton. Following last weekends second team and first team’ reversals, the exiles were emphatic that the season would be put back on track within the ‘friendly’ derby against the Club’s closest geographical neighbour.

A strong defensive effort, ably marshalled by halfback James Reynolds, lead to the Cornish line remaining unbroken and, in spite of some poor execution on attack the result was never really in doubt. The Cornish display was also a testament that at this level, clear communication and trust in your team mates are absolutely vital. The defensive line – orchestrated by veteran fullback Quentin Peri – was massive in a ten minute period in the second half and the affect of this on the opposition was clear.

From the beginning it was clear that the early kick-off was taking a toll on the concentration of all, and the inability for Cornish No. 8 Matt Hope to take the ball from the back of the scrums due to the referee outlawing back row moves from the uncontested scrums further meant that Cornish were unable to consolidate their clear advantage in the ruck and maul area. In the lineout H&F are a competitive unit, and were able to secure all of their ball, and some of the Exiles, but following a series of exchanges between the two sides, centre and St Austell prodigal son Scott Lloyd produced an early contender for tackle of the season, not only for its effect on the scoreboard as it popped the ball free for lock Pete Calvert to feed centre Keith Thompson for a run in to the line, but also for its impact on the game as the tackle forced not only Lloyd’s opposite man to leave the field injured, but sadly also Lloyd himself with a knee injury. Matt Godsall continued to display the sharp kicking skills that has the world of insurance company PA’s talking by hitting the sideline conversion.

As half time was called, Cornish turned with the wind, and with a 7 point lead also had the luxury of playing with the late November sun on their backs, and in the eyes of their opposites. The exiles then responded with some vigorous and intelligent play, with runners sucking in the H&F loose forwards, centres Thompson and Jeffery (his late arrival forcing yet another new position on LCRFC’s jack of all trades as he came on for the injured Lloyd) prominent along with Matt Hope, action man Will Ho and Pete Calvert. This period of play produced fruit when lightning fast aggressive rucking from the Exile's pack allowed half back Jim Reynolds clean posession to fire quick ball to the waiting hands of Wilma Ho, cutting back an excellent line to breach the visitor's defence. With two defenders dragging the powerful Ho to the ground, he expertly offloaded back to 'Guns' Reynolds running a clever oblique line towards the posts, using great gas to accelerate his way between two H&F defenders, executing probably the most professional dive for try, using the lush REMP fields grass to slide almost 3.01 meters along the in-goal. Godsall added the extras, taking the score to 14-0.(Your correspondent apologises for any inaccuracies in the prior paragraph, since as he had his head deep in a ruck for the passage of play, significant input from Reynolds and Ho was required to draft this paragraph).

From the kick-off H&F aggressively reasserted themselves in to the game and there followed a period of 10 or so minutes of sustained defence, notable for the commitment of the Cornish pack, including Calvert, Ash Holloway, Bill Donnelly and captain Joe McDavitt. The white-line defence proved too much for H&F and from the ultimate clearance, the exiles again began to drive their way up field. The final nail in the coffin came from sustained forward driving play along the left flank of H&F, followed by a swift kick through from the immaculate Peri, and a chase from the energiser bunny Jeffery in to the corner to the ball in the in-goal, forcing for the try. Godsall added the extras to take the exiles to 21-0.

Overall the team can be satisfied with their defence, and can take some lessons on attack from the game. However, the flexibility and commitment of the team cannot be questioned, an outstanding example being reserve flank forward Adam Riddett stepping in at the last moment to play left wing following the unfortunate departure of Bob Oakley due to a family bereavement. The thoughts of all at LCRFC are with Bob and family. Furthermore, the seconds have lost two years in a row to H&F, and this result bodes well for the strength in depth of the club.

MOM – a tough call, with Ho, Peri, Calvert and Hope all prominent. However the committee ultimately felt the performance of Reynolds, his organisaional skills with the pack, his strong defence, and his running from the base of ruck and scrum were vital to the team’s victory. TOM – not hard to call here – Mr Jeffery’s pre-match performance was direct from the Simon Wood school of how not to prepare for a game of rugby. However sadly he had sloped off by the time the awards were being presented, so the wise heads chose Pete Calvert to drink in his place – Calvert repayed this faith with an exceptional pint time, somewhere in the order of 0.25 seconds.

Team: FB – Peri, Q, RW – McHugh, G, OC – Lloyd, S (Jeffery, T), IC – Thompson, K, FH – Godsall, M, SH – Reynolds, J, N8 – Hope, M, OF – Ho, W, BF – Picton, M, LO – Calvert, P, LO – Donnelly – W, TP – McDavitt, J (Cap.), HO – Holloway, A, LP – Russell, S (Herring, A). Physio: Sprag, S. Scorers: Thompson, Reynolds, Jeffery – Tries; Godsall – Conversion (3).


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