LONDON 2 SOUTH-WEST
14/11/09
LONDON CORNISH V WEYBRIDGE VANDALS

London Cornish 13 - Weybridge Vandals 10

London Cornish eked out their 4th win on the bounce, this time against promoted Weybridge Vandals in London 2 South-West on Saturday, the win being the result of a goal and two penalties to two tries. Once again, it was a second half comeback that brought home the points, as the exiles seemed to wear down their lumpier opponents. With another extraordinary round of results on the day in this tight division, the result lifts Cornish above their opponents and up 4 places into 4th in the league, a mere 2 behind the joint pace setters.

Despite plenty of misgivings during the morning regarding whether the match would be on, the REMPF remained remarkable free of standing water and both sides were surprised by the quality of the pitch. Only the hardiest supporters from the respective camps would brave the elements for this one, driving rain in gale force winds blowing across the pitch towards the river, the wind so strong it launched the scoreboard into the air and smashed it as it landed. Cornish had elected to play in their change strip of gold with narrow black hoops, a wise decision since not only do their visitors play in black, at times it got very dark. Two late changes were forced on the exiles from the side named overnight, Rob Aird and Hamish Cuming both unable to take up their places, one stuck in Luxembourg and the other required at home. In came St Ives own Ben Wheeler at loose head and Nick Fletcher at blind side. Another change saw a debut at scrum half for former Effingham player Ali Lindsay, who has been playing a starring role for the 2s recently. With James Hessey returning at open side, it was a strong but perhaps lighter exiles XV than fielded in previous weeks.

Cornish began the game playing toward the clubhouse end, and it was quickly apparent that this would be a game won and lost on mistakes as both sides struggled with the conditions. Vandals have a series of large units both in their pack and at half back, and their tight gameplan was well adapted to the conditions, them launching runners around the fringes having used their rolling maul to set field position. When they did choose to go wider, they found Cornish centres Iain Short and Giles Humphries in no mood to let anything through. Lacking their arch anti rolling maul weaponary of Cuming and Aird, the exiles were unusually susceptible to this tactic and found the early exchanges tough, as the scrum also creaked. An early warning for the exiles actually came when on the attack, a grounded ball on the Vandals 22 fly-hacked the length of the pitch and the danger only averted when the lad chasing the ball accidentally fly-hacked the follow up into touch. Gradually forcing their hosts to defend from deeper, Vandals began to win a series of penalties for a variety of reasons. With the wind making place kicking a lottery, they chose to kick to the corner and on 13 minutes had their reward when they drove a rolling maul over the line for the score. Their kicker was not able to add to the points and the significance of this was brought home a mere 5 minutes later when Cornish won a penalty in a central position 10 metres into the visitors half. Up stepped Dan Pollard to make light of the wind, his excellent strike reducing the arrears to 2. Though the wind slanted across the pitch, it did seem to favour the side playing toward the Kingston end, and Vandals kept Cornish pinned back with well flighted kicks. Some semblance of control was given to Cornish by the form of Skipper Nick Taylor, a rock at no 8 who frequently picked up bad ball and made it good, allowing his half backs to clear the danger. With the visiting hooker struggling with his lineout throwing in the wind, the game developed a pattern of territorial domination by the visitors met with strong defence by the home side. With so many large trucks on which to call, Vandals worked hard on keeping the ball off the floor, their 8 in particular a player who likes the ball in open field. Though well marshalled in the tight by Hessey and Fletcher, he frequently appeared outside in his more favoured centre position as he sought to drive his side over the gainline. On 35 minutes, Cornish halted another rolling maul within 5 feet of their line, and as the ball emerged by the ruck, an errant exiles hand tried in vain to scoop it back, instead knocking it on. The referee binned the offender, and the pain was doubled when the 8 found room on the blindside to crash over the whitewash from the ensuing scrum called. This time the Vandals kicker struck the ball well, but the wind simply halted it in mid air and sent it back from whence it came! The exiles weathered the remaining minutes of the half, grateful to be down by only 7 points at the break.

Cornish made a change at half time, Mike Allewell on at 6 in place of Fletcher. Though this would reduce the exiles size in the tight, it would give them more dog on the floor and more direction, since Allewell is a natural born leader. The exiles saw out the remaining minutes of the sin bin, and began to assert themselves on the game, fellow props Wheeler and Alex Harris beginning to make yards with their carrying. This seemed to re-energise the scrum, a couple of balls now pinched against the head by hooker Will Carew-Gibbs. Occasionally using the blind side, wing Jim Strover saw ball and space to grubber kick down the line to win field position. With Tom Hurley solid under the high ball, the exiles began to see a way back into the match. Another tactical change on 50 minutes saw the exiles replace Hessey with Rob Davies, again a lighter player but another whose work would predominantly be on the floor. Vandals missed a long range penalty in the early part of the half, their kicker simply not able to master the wind. On the hour mark, Taylor and Jim Strover combined to crash into midfield inside the visiting 22. The oppo backline were not quick enough to retreat however, and were caught offside. With the wind so strong the ball wouldn't stay on the tee, Pollard required help, but it didnt hinder his kick, which spliced the uprights to make the score 10-6 to Vandals. Sensing their moment with some of the larger Vandals players seeming to be tiring, Cornish now upped their game, Lindsay suddenly having options around him running from deep. Wheeler in particular repeatedly demonstating just how much he loves these conditions, hammering over the gainline as Cornish kept it tight. Now locks Jim Brennan and Pete Calvert were preventing the Vandals lineout from gaining the clean ball required to launch rolling mauls, forcing the visitors to play a wider game. This suited the exiles whose back row were now quicker to the breakdown, Allewell winning another penalty for his side to the left of the posts half way into the visitors half. On this occasion, it was not the wind that hindered Pollard, but the rain, his standing foot slipping clean from under him just as he came to kick, the attempt scooped wide. Nevertheless, the Cornish support could sense the tide turning and urged their team for more effort. With the penalty count now favouring the home side, frustration crept into the visitors ranks, a number of the referee's decisions being audibly questioned. What was a gradual feeling now became fact, you could see the visitors pack was tiring. Cornish turned the screw, Pollard launching a kick downfield for the Strover brothers to scrag the ball carrier into touch. With the clock showing 72 minutes, the exiles worked the ball into midfield where the visiting back row were caught with hands in the till. Taylor asked Pollard to kick to the corner and the stage was set. The force was now with Cornish and they rolled their maul 5 metres to the Vandals line where one of their bigger units decided it had to stop, blatantly pulling it down. With the referee indicating a penalty, as the maul reset Vandals did the same thing again, Wheeler pulled to the ground as the maul hit the line. With no other option the referee awarded the penalty try to scenes of jubilation from the exiles. Pollard made no mistake with the extras and now his side had the lead for the first time in the match with 7 minutes remaining. Could the exiles hold on? In these remaining minutes they actually did everything they could not too, first knocking a ball on in their 22, then conceding a penalty for 'ungentlemanly conduct', before finally losing another player to the bin for what can only be described as a failed sliding tackle. This meant a wholesale reshuffle for the exiles pack, but since this is the third week running they have had to defend such situations, they are used to it. With time nearly up, Vandals won a penalty wide right. They eschewed what would have been a very tough kick and went for the corner, but the ball was not won cleanly and when they tried to pick and drive, Davies brought their man to ground and won a penalty for holding on for the exiles to clear their lines. One last attempt saw Vandals attack down the left flank in front of their support but the exiles wing Matt Strover stopped his man for the ball to be knocked on, the referee signalling the end of the match, despair for one team and joy for the other.

You need to go back to March 2008 to find the last time the Vandals lost back to back league matches. They are formidable opponents at this level and will doubtless bounce back from these defeats, but they will also need more strength in depth than they currently have for their 2s are a long way down the structure from their 1s and in this physical, unforgiving league where there are simply no 'gimme' games, you need to be able to field a strong side every week. They were not able to make it to The Telegraph for their post match meal, but their Skipper and Coach were both gracious in defeat post match and we wish them well, it's good to see them back. Cornish overcame the loss of a couple of players who would normally be key men in conditions such as these, the win continuing the recent run of form. The league can be parked again for a fortnight and a couple of players rested for the Cup match ahead, but its all systems go at Cornish as the club moves into its favoured winter months!

LCRFC – Tom Hurley, Jim Strover, Giles Humphries, Iain Short, Matt Strover, Dan Pollard, Ali Lindsay, Nick Taylor (Capt.), James Hessey (Rob Davies), Nick Fletcher (Mike Allewell), Jim Brennan, Pete Calvert, Ben Wheeler, Will Carew-Gibbs, Alex Harris.


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