LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
01/03/08
LONDON CORNISH v WINCHESTER

London Cornish 35 - Winchester 11

A superb all round performance against Winchester landed London Cornish their 9th win in their last 12 league matches and their 6th straight home win, as they cemented 5th place in London 3 South-West in their first ever season at this level. That the result turned round a 34-0 defeat against the same opponents back in September demonstrates just how much improvement there has been from the exiles as they won this match by 1 goal, 5 tries and a penalty to a try and 2 penalties.

Cornish were able to call on a raft of players unavailable for the Cobham match, James Turnbull, Thornton Williams, Chris Milne, James Strover, Joe Purcell and Jim Reynolds all called in to the squad, the latter for his league debut. The pitch at the REMPF was once again in fantastic condition, and the game began in fine conditions between 2 sides closely matched on league placings. The formlines however, told another story, the visitors on the back of a run of 6 straight defeats. Despite this, the Hampshire side were quicker out of the blocks and, with the aid of a very strong wind at their backs, they dominated the first 10 minutes. Cornish tackled hard, Will Ho, Rod Petre and Skipper Mike Allewell at the forefront of the barricades. Cornish were penalised for offside on 8 minutes and the visiting kicker slotted the kick to give his side the lead. With their first real sortie into the visitors half Cornish scored. A lineout on halfway was worked left to right for fly-half Dan Pollard to hoist a kick in behind the Winchester defence. The ball bounced awkwardly and was grabbed by the chasing Williams, who drove over the line to give the exiles the lead on 12 minutes. The conversion attempt slammed into an upright and went wide. Cornish failed to gather the restart and were made to pay, two phases resulting in a scrum from which the Winchester no 8, a decent ball carrier who had a fine game, slipped under an attempted tackle and burst clear to score wide left. This conversion attempt also hit an upright and went wide to leave the visitors 8-5 up. Back came Cornish again, on 15 minutes centre Henry Mitchell bursting a tackle and clearing away from just inside the Winchester half to power over to the left of the posts. Pollard, for the first time this season, struggled with the windy condition when place kicking and his attempt again went wide. The lead would not last long as with their very next attack on 18 minutes, the Hampshire side caught Cornish offside at a scrum and the resultant penalty was well struck by their kicker to give his side back the lead. Now the game settled down and Cornish began a steady process of gaining dominance up front, Pete Calvert and Milne making a real nuisance of themselves at the lineouts. In the tight Cornish also began to turn the screw, Turnbull, Allewell and Ben Shribman forcing strikes against the head in the opening period. On 26 minutes and with Cornish now the dominant force, centres Mitchell and Graham Dodge forged up the middle and onto the visitors 22. Winchester were penalised for not rolling away and Pollard drove his kick into the wind and between the uprights to register the sixth change of lead in the game so far. Crucially, this was also the last one. Though Cornish dominated possession for the remaining minutes of the half, the strong wind aided the booming boot of the Winchester fly-half who could clear his lines with interest. The visitors did win a penalty on half-way but their kicker scuffed his attempt wide of the posts to leave the score at the break 13-11 to the exiles.

Though the wind was now in their favour, few could have foreseen the gearchange Cornish found in the second half. Within minutes of the restart the home side disrupted a Winchester scrum in their half, turned over the ball at the base and spread it wide right. Wing George Bramble cut a great line at the angle to dash over on the right flank, the conversion again drifting narrowly wide. 48 minutes on the clock and the lead was extended again, a penalty kicked to the corner for Calvert to snaffle and the forwards driving over for Ho to claim the score, the kick missing again. Almost immediately, a fantastic passage of play saw the ball move through 7 pairs of hands as forwards and backs linked to send Bramble clear for his second score under the posts, Pollard adding the extras. In the space of 12 minutes Cornish had scored 17 unanswered points to effectively settle the match with three high quality tries. Though Winchester toiled hard, their tactic of using a series of runners close to rucks and mauls was simply not testing enough and now playing into the wind, they could not gain field position. They were also increasingly picking up knocks with players left behind on the floor following many of the rucks and mauls, a surefire sign of a side under pressure. With Jim Strover joining in attacks from full back, the range of options available to Mike Dardis and Pollard was wide and varied. Cornish made a couple of changes to freshen the side, Milne who had suffered from cramp having only recently returned from New Zealand, being replaced by Purcell at 8, Bramble resting a troublesome knee to allow Reynolds to make his debut, and Turnbull (who continues to enjoy fine form at scrum time) giving way to Simon Wood. The one way traffic was not disrupted by the changes, Purcell in particular making a real impact with his powerful ball carrying from the base of the pack. On 64 minutes Cornish scored their last and arguably best try. Wing Mike Harvey had repeatedly demonstrated strength and pace when in possession during the game, and now he was given some room just inside the visiting half. He ran at the outside shoulder of the Winchester 13 and stepped away from him to be faced by his opposite winger who showed him the outside. Mistake. Burned on the outside and clutching at thin air as Harvey flew by, he saw his full back dismissed in a similar vein as the flying exile crossed the whitewash without a finger being laid on him to dive over wide left. This was finishing of the highest order and was warmly greeted by the home crowd. Though the kick fell short across the freshening breeze, the lead was now out to 35-11. Winchester reinforced their reputation as side who never give up in the remaining minutes, their combative forwards continuing to work overtime. They eschewed kickable penalties to try and rumble Cornish back from lineouts, a tactic that has foundered every time it has been tried against the exiles in the last few months. Cornish also tried to repeat the earlier success of this tactic late on, but were held up. Two penalties were won in the shadow of the visitors posts, a scrum and a tap penalty not resulting in any further scores, though Ho was cut in one and could take no further part in the game. Since there were only 90 seconds left, being down to 14 men made no difference to the score, the final whistle going on a well refereed encounter.

Winchester may well have underestimated their opponents on this occasion, the ease with which they had dismissed Cornish in the reverse encounter masking the improvement shown by the exiles since then. With these two sides poised to be facing each other again next season, it is unlikely they will underestimate them again. The Winchester crew all made it back to The Telegraph and were good value. With no promotion or relegation issues to bother them, they can enjoy their remaining games this season. Cornish remain in tremendous form, and with their massive squad being bolstered by the day, the exiles will present an awkward task for all of their remaining opponents in London 3 South-West. This is a young side too, so there should be plenty more to come...



LCRFC – Jim Strover, George Bramble (Jim Reynolds), Graham Dodge, Henry Mitchell, Mike Harvey, Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, Chris Milne (Joe Purcell), Rod Petre, Will Ho, Thornton Williams, Pete Calvert, James Turnbull, Mike Allewell (Capt.), Ben Shribman.


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