LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
15/12/07
LONDON CORNISH v OLD WIMBLEDONIANS

London Cornish 62 - Old Wimbledonians 5

A thoroughly disciplined and clinical performance by London Cornish saw them score 9 tries to record their 5th win in the last 6 league matches in London 3 South-West on Saturday. The win lifted the side up to 7th place in the division, and more importantly 7 points clear of the relegation zone.

With Pete Calvert restored to the row after a 2 week absence, Dave Hill switched to the bench. Full debuts were given to Frenchman Nicolas Patte at blind side in place of the injured Will Ho, and Ulsterman Keith Thompson at 13 in place of the unavailable Henry Mitchell, Josh Bartley-Smith moving inside to 12. With Adam McVicar and George Bramble also unavailable, Tim Mucken came in at 15 and Jim Strover returned on the wing. The game began on a bright, cold December afternoon in near still conditions, the recent frost having completely thawed to leave underfoot conditions near perfect for running rugby. Thus it proved from the off, Cornish instantly on the attack and winning a penalty on 4 minutes, which fly half Dan Pollard notched to give his side the lead. On 7 minutes Strover recovered a clearing kick inside his own half and set off up field to release Bartley-Smith. He slid an inch perfect kick beyond the OW backs that rolled to within 4 feet of the try line, Mucken the quickest to react as he dashed through, regathered the ball and dived over the whitewash to score, the conversion attempt sliding wide. Tackled awkwardly in the act of passing, Strover turned an ankle and was replaced on the wing by another debutant in Matt Godsall. The quick rucking approach that has been a hallmark of the recent Cornish revival saw the side drive upfield on 18 minutes, Pollard finding prop Ben Wheeler at his shoulder inside the OW 22. Juggling as he crashed through, Wheeler controlled the ball well to thunder across the line under the posts, Pollard adding the extras to ease his side out to a 15-0 lead. Frequently caught offside during the match at both the breakdown and out wide, OW's were penalised in kickable range, Pollard twice slotting kicks to move the lead out to 21-0, the latter penalty precipitated by a powerful break by replacement Godsall. A flowing move between forwards and backs on 28 minutes saw no 8 Chris Milne link with right wing Mike Harvey whose searing pace took him clear of the cover to score near the posts, Pollard again making the score a maximum. With hooker Mike Allewell nailing his men at the lineouts, and Calvert and Milne causing trouble for OW's on their throw ins, the tackle count for the visitors was huge in the first half hour. When they did finally gain any possession, they were frequently turned over, Rod Petre setting up a drive into oppo territory on 35 minutes supported by prop Ben Shribman, the recycled ball again finding its way to Harvey to finish, the kick missing on this occasion. The last 5 minutes of the half belonged to the visitors, who smashed their way into the Cornish 22 for the first time. Just when Cornish appeared to have cleared, the oppo 15 countered and broke through. Drawing his opposite number he slipped the ball to his right wing who managed to squeeze in for a fine score by the scoreboard, despite a fine covering tackle from Petre. The kick was missed but the score was followed by a few stern words from Skipper Rob Aird, incensed that his side had let their guard drop after a decent 39 minutes work, his side 33-5 to the good at the break.

Cornish have been guilty of seemingly 'resting' for 20 minutes during matches, so it was important to keep the focus from the start of the second period. They got the early score they wanted on 44 minutes when a fly hack by Bartley-Smith was kicked on by Thompson for Petre to poach a try by grounding the ball over the try line, Pollard driving the conversion between the posts. Aird immediately succumbed to a strain, Hill coming on at lock in a straight swap and Allewell assuming the Skippers mantle. Cornish were camped deep inside the for some time at this point, a series of defensive scrums just scrambling the ball to safety. OW's employed their 'no contest' tactic to offensive lineouts to disrupt Cornish ball on a couple of occasions, but inexplicably tried to run the ball out of defence to be turned over, prop Ben Shribman and Patte particularly adept at picking the pockets of the OW ball. On 51 minutes Cornish set up a maul on the OW 22 after a good run by Thompson was supported by the rampaging Calvert. The OW defence had no answer as they were inexorably driven all the way back over their line for Wheeler to claim his second score near the scoreboard, the conversion missing. The next score came from a pick up and drive by Milne from the base of the scrum, plunging across the line to score in a similar spot to the previous score. Though the conversion went wide, the score was now out to 50-5. Cornish made a final change, bringing on Club Captain James Turnbull for Wheeler at this stage. Scrum half Mike Dardis orchestrated the forwards well, mixing the game with Pollard to keep the OW back row guessing. Only the oppo 15, enjoying a decent game and making ground on most occasions when in possession, caused any real problems for Cornish. On 68 minutes Thompson deservedly added his name to the scoresheet, a jinking run after a half break from Bartley-Smith seeing him open his account half way in to the right of the posts for Pollard to add the extras again. Saving the best until last, the final score saw Harvey claim his hat-trick, a flowing counter attack from the home 22 giving Harvey a smidgeon of space. It was all he needed as he left the cover for dead and burnt down the right flank to score out wide before the cover mowed him down, the conversion attempt slamming into the near upright to leave the final score in this well refereed encounter 62-5 to the exiles.

After a mauling such as this, it would have been easy for Old Wimbledonians to head the short distance home to lick their wounds, but credit to them for coming back to The Telegraph and fronting up. It is a pity their 2nd XV should completely let the club down for the second time in recent weeks, failing to field a side after confirming the fixture on a number of occasions, leaving our 2s standing on the pitch waiting for an opposition who never appeared. It is undoubtedly tough to keep going when your sides are getting beaten most weeks, but OW's need to get to grips with the situation or they will lose some of the decent players they do have. Recruitment would surely be helped by updating a website still untouched since April. We wish them well in their quest. Cornish reach the break in decent form, the gathering momentum enhanced by the Christmas Party, which left your correspondent tired and emotional! The side probably need a couple more wins to be abolutely sure of their status for next season, the club determined to climb the table in the second half of the season.

LCRFC – Tim Mucken, James Strover (Matt Godsall), Keith Thompson, Josh Bartley-Smith, Mike Harvey, Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, Chris Milne, Rod Petre, Nicolas Patte, Rob Aird (Capt.)(Dave Hill), Pete Calvert, Ben Shribman, Mike Allewell, Ben Wheeler (James Turnbull).


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