LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
10/11/07
OLD WIMBLEDONIANS v LONDON CORNISH

Old Wimbledonians 13 - London Cornish 33

London Cornish produced enough quality on the day to win this game by 4 goals and a try to a goal and 2 penalties as Old Wimbledonians failed to turn possession into points at their Coombe Lane HQ on Saturday. Whilst not hitting their straps for long periods of the game, the exiles will be happy to have recorded a third straight victory in London 3 South-West in this, their first ever season at this level.

Cornish only made 1 change from the side who had defeated Andover the previous week, James Turnbull playing at lock in place of the injured Ben Shribman. Old Wimbledonians changing rooms rank as the smallest and most inadequate your correspondent has witnessed in his time with Cornish, all 18 players, 2 coaches and a physio crammed into a space barely big enough for half that number. With a strong wind blowing slightly against them in overcast conditions on a fine surface, Cornish demonstrated their new found confidence with their very first attack on 4 minutes, fly half Dan Pollard linking with wing Mike Harvey to cut in from the right flank and score to the right of the posts, the extras added by the same player. Seemingly lapsing into the old habits of last season, the visitors then coasted for the next 15 minutes, allowing Wimbledonians to dominate both possession and territory. They have a decent scrum half and an inside centre who knows only one way (but does it well), supported by a willing back row who worked overtime to keep hold of the ball. Unable to drive Cornish back at the maul and under huge pressure in the tight, the issue for OW's was that no matter how much possession they had, they simply did not possess the weaponary to break the visitors down. They gained a penalty on 12 minutes slotted by their 15 but with Cornish playing a classic counter attacking game, the home side looked susceptible every time their visitors pieced together a few phases of rugby. On 22 minutes Cornish won a ball in their 22 for Harvey to kick upfield and find the home full back out of position. The covering wing was turned over on the home 22, the ball quickly reycled for prop Andy Renner to drive on and offload to no 8 Chris Milne, who streaked away from the cover to score to the right of the posts. Pollard converted and Cornish were out to a 14-3 lead. This was the signal for Cornish to switch off again, content to soak up pressure from OW's and hit them on the break. However, with a number of the OW kicks uncharacteristically spilt and with a growing lack of understanding of the referee's interpretation at the breakdown, the visitors were making life very hard for themselves. Their cause wasnt helped when Skipper Mike Allewell was concussed to be replaced by Will Ho. However, on 36 minutes the exiles built a series of phases to break just outside the OW 22. As centre Graham Dodge hit a gap, he was poleaxed by a high tackle from the home full back, whose indiscretion cost him a 10 minute holiday. The half ended with Cornish hammering away in the shadow of the Wimbledonians posts, the visiting scrum now beginning to drive the home side off their own ball, the score at the break 14-3 to Cornish.

Down to 14 men and now playing into the wind, it was surprisingly Wimbledonians who came out firing at the start of the second period and within 2 minutes they had their reward when they fashioned some room for one of their backs to cut in from the right and score under the posts, the conversion reducing the arears to 14-10. Restored to 15 men and with their visitors now getting pinged for penalties seemingly at every breakdown, a surge of renewed confidence spread through Wimbledonians. On 47 minutes they won a penalty bang in front of the posts on the Cornish 22 only for their kicker to horribly pull the kick wide of the posts. No matter, for within 2 minutes he had another chance from the identical spot and this time made no mistake, narrowing the gap to 14-13. Worse was to follow for Cornish for they lost a forward to the bin for persistent team infringements at the breakdown on 50 minutes. It will come as no surprise to seasoned watchers of Cornish sides that the visitors were still able to exert massive pressure on the home scrum even though reduced to a 7 man pack! Gradually, Cornish began to reassert their control on the match, OWs never able to threaten the Cornish line again in the match from this point. Holding out until restored to 15, Pollard began using the wind and the poor positioning of the home full back to drive his side deeper and deeper into Wimbledonians territory. Ben Wheeler began nailing his man at the lineouts and the visitors started utilising energy sapping driving mauls to gain territory. Upping their game now and rucking with greater efficiency, a 7 phase move involving great driving runs from Turnbull, Renner and the two wings Harvey and Jim Strover, eventually ended with centre Henry Mitchell capping another fine display by switching with Pollard and crashing over despite plenty of attention from the OW defence half way in from the right flank. Cornish made a change bringing on Jonty Saunders at 7 in place of Rod Petre. Pollard slotted a difficult conversion and the lead was now 21-13 with 11 minutes left. Within 3 minutes Cornish had scored again, Pollard again finding the home full back hopelessly out of position as he overran a kick. Mike Dardis reacted more quickly than the covering wingers, scooping the ball up to Milne supporting at pace who shipped the ball right to Pollard who showed the home defence a clean pair of heels to score under the posts. Converting his own score for the second time in the match, Pollard now gave his side an unassailable 28-13 lead. Cornish made their final change bringing on Matt Strover for Harvey, who had taken a slight knock to the knee when chasing the previous kick. With lock Pete Calvert now nicking home lineout ball and full back George Bramble steadying his early nerves, there was no way back for Wimbledonians. With the final act of the game, a lineout on halfway saw the home side driven back in midfield and when they flung a pass from right to left on halfway, Dardis read it perfectly to intercept and have enough gas to score, again halfway in from the right flank, Pollard unable to convert into the strong wind. Cornish had scored an unanswered 19 points in the last 11 minutes to clear away from their struggling hosts by 33-13.

Both of these sides have had to contend with horrific injury lists thus far in the season, but while Cornish can rely on a steady stream of replacements coming through their effervescent 2nd XV, Old Wimbledonians are repeatedly unable to field a 2s, player recruitment surely not helped by a website not updated since April. They have an immense task on their hands if they are to avoid demotion to London 4 for the first time in their history. Cornish will be delighted to have won by such a margin in a game in which they coasted for long periods. They know that they have to continue to improve if they are to keep on progressing up the table, but they have the ammo to do it and have again demonstrated that they are enjoying the challenge!

LCRFC – George Bramble, Jim Strover, Graham Dodge, Henry Mitchell, Mike Harvey (Matt Strover), Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, Chris Milne, Rod Petre (Jonty Saunders), Mike Allewell (Capt.)(Will Ho), James Turnbull, Pete Calvert, Ben Wheeler, Will Carew-Gibbs, Andy Renner.


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