LONDON 2 SOUTH-WEST
28/11/09
GUERNSEY V LONDON CORNISH

Guernsey 6 - London Cornish 9

In storm force winds and torrential driving rain, London Cornish produced a magnificent team performance to take both points home from the Channel Islands, in doing so moving above their hosts Guernsey into a share of second place in London 2 South-West. The win was achieved by virtue of 3 penalties to 2, the first time the Sarnians have been prevented from scoring a try on home turf in over a year.

Both sides went into this game in good form, having each won their last 3 league games, and the local papers had made no bones about the fact that Guernsey have set their sights on the title this season. A formidable and very well supported side at their Foote's Lane HQ, this run of form has seen the Islanders move to within a couple of points of the summit, and by all accounts they only had one player missing from their strongest side available on this day. Cornish have also crept up the table in the same period, a feat all the more meritorious since this is a considerably rebuilt side from the one that had completed the previous season. Able to bring a strong squad of 19 to Guernsey, a very clear game plan was laid out for the players. All the forecasts had predicted strong wind and heavy rain, so it was with some glee that a lumpy exiles pack arrived at the ground, the condition of the pitch remarkable considering the hosing it has received in recent days. However, the wind, blowing strongly from right to left as you looked from the impressive stand, would have as much impact on the game as the underfoot conditions, and on winning the toss Cornish Skipper Nick Taylor elected to play into the elements in the opening period.

Right from the off, the differing game plans of the 2 sides was apparent, the Sarnians keen to put width on the ball whilst Cornish took a more cautious approach. On 2 minutes the exiles conceded a kickable penalty, but the home kicker has an unusual style, seeming to chip the ball rather than driving his foot through it, and he pulled the attempt well wide of the posts. With the scrums evenly matched, the home side were able to rely on a steady stream of ball to try and open up their visitors in the first 15 minutes, but they made little headway with the exiles centres Iain Short and Giles Humphreys adept at closing down the space. With Taylor ably supported round the flanks by the ball carrying of prop Hamish Cuming and blind side Rob Aird, the exiles were able to pick and drive their way up field and into Guernsey territory. On 21 minutes they gained reward when the home 7 came offside, a feat he was to repeat on a number of occasions during the match, each of which was caught by the excellent referee. Despite the kick being into the wind and some way out, fly half Dan Pollard elected to kick, his superb strike driven hard and true though the posts to give his side the lead. The roar from the stands that greeted this kick betrayed the fact that the exiles had some support of their own in amongst the hundreds who had braved the elements. A mere 5 minutes later, the lead was doubled, a rolling maul from a Pete Calvert take at a lineout catching the home backs offside in front of the posts. Pollard again drove his kick between the sticks. It was only now that the home side resorted to the more obvious tactic of launching kicks on the wind to give them field position. Winning set piece ball just inside Cornish territory, they worked a miss-move in midfield and when one of the visiting centres lost his footing as he rushed up, the home back dashed through the gap and away from the cover. With his left wing in close support, the Sarnian only had exiles full back Tom Hurley to beat, but rather than use his supporting man he decided to take on the former Bristol back, the superb tackle preventing any offload. Though Cornish conceded a penalty at the ensuing ruck, the 3 points that were lost was a small price to pay for what turned out to be the best try scoring chance of the whole match. With 30 on the clock and Guernsey enjoying a good spell, they again won a penalty on the exiles 22 for not rolling away at the tackle. Their kicker chipped the ball through the uprights to level things up. The simmering contest twice nearly erupted now, the home 9 repeatedly mistiming his follow through on Pollard after he had kicked, and the 2 back rows also keen to get more closely acquainted. The referee sought out the Skippers, issued the warnings and let the game continue. Now the home side again broke through inside the exiles 22, and this time it was left wing Jim Strover with an outstanding covering tackle, brute strength required to prevent the ball carrier from reaching out and planting the ball over the line. The growing frustration of the home side now saw them knock on a couple of kicks, Rob Mazur using the wind well to draw the Sarnian back 3 forward. With the wind now strengthening further, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the exiles to clear their lines, and when they were penalised again on 38 minutes it seemed they were about to fall behind. However, the home kicker was noted missing plenty of kicks pre match and here he did again, scooping his effort from close in wide right after it clipped the outside of the right upright. Revitalised by this error, Cornish held out in the remaining minutes of the half, open side Rob Davies enjoying an excellent game as he repeatedly snaffled loose ball on the floor.

Teams can often believe the job done when turning round at parity having played into a strong wind in the opening period, so the exiles were well aware that the hard work was still to come when they reappeared from the changing rooms after the break. Where Guernsey had tried to run the ball in the opening part of the first half, their visitors resorted to a series of well placed kicks to gain territory, and though these were well fielded by the home full back, he invariably could not gain the same amount of ground. Slowly but surely, the Sarnians were forced to defend deeper and deeper, driving runs by Humphries and prop Alex Harris supporting the team effort. Harris took a knock in the early part of the half, electing to carry on for the time being. Calvert too sported a cut but he and fellow lock Jim Brennan seemed to be enjoying the conditions so he too stayed on to continue battle. A long range penalty miss on 46 minutes gave notice to Cornish that even with the wind, place kicking was not going to be easy. With both sides continuing to make plenty of handling errors in the tough conditions, and a papers breadth between the 2, it was clear that the game would be won and lost on the basis of who made least. On 56 minutes the exiles regained the lead, the home 7 again caught where he shouldn't have been, for Pollard to step up and exact a 3 point revenge. Within minutes a strong run by Taylor drove the ball onto the home 22, from where Mazur worked the ball back to Pollard. He pulled the trigger on the drop goal, but agonisingly the wind took the ball just to the right of the posts. Now the exiles withdrew hooker Will Carew-Gibbs, another who had enjoyed a decent game both with his ball carrying and his ability to pinch ball against the head. With top try scorer Matt Strover and his brother Jim employed in predominantly defensive roles, Cornish continued to hold their hosts at arms length. Another change on 64 minutes saw Harris make way for James Turnbull, another suited by the squelchy underfoot conditions. This change solidified the scrums, many of which needed to be reset as both sets of packs struggled to gain any grip. It is a truism that trying to play catch up in torrential rain is very tough, but the Sarnians now changed tactics, pick and drives close in gaining considerable ground. Their huge crowds had been silent for much of the game but now they found voice. The problem their team found was that the exiles were ready and waiting for this, Taylor and Aird joined in the fray by replacement hooker Mike Allewell, who loves nothing more than the close quarter trench warfare. Each time the ball was knocked on or a mistake made by the hosts, belief that this could be their day coursed through the exiles veins, encouragement echoing around the team. Finally, with 4 minutes on the clock, Guernsey launched a powerful rolling maul from just inside Cornish territory to the 22 just left of centre. As the maul broke up, a Cornish player was caught coming in from the side. Since he had missed an earlier simple effort, this kick was no foregone conclusion, but the lad will have been very disappointed to see his kick fly wide of the left hand upright, groans heard from the stands. The 22 was driven deep back into the Guernsey half, and there Cornish tried to pin them for the remaining minutes of this epic match. When the exiles were turned over just inside their own half and a scrum given to the home side, it was clear they would have to repel one last assault. Throwing the ball from right to left, a knock on just inside the Cornish half signalled the end of the game, the visitors ecstatic with their win.

Guernsey will definitely have something to say in this seasons promotion battle, but this defeat will need to be reversed quickly if they are not to fall off the pace. It may be that these conditions did not suit them as well as their visitors, and though they missed kicks on the day they would have to admit that they did not use the conditions in the first half as well as the exiles did in the second. Cornish have now won 4 on the bounce in the league, and in a tight division this sees them take a share of second spot. With no gimme games in the league, no-one will be taking things easy over the 3 games to the break, but this win will be a huge boost to the clubs morale!

LCRFC – Tom Hurley, Jim Strover, Giles Humphries, Iain Short, Matt Strover, Dan Pollard, Rob Mazur, Nick Taylor (Capt.), Rob Davies, Rob Aird, Jim Brennan, Pete Calvert, Alex Harris (James Turnbull), Will Carew-Gibbs (Mike Allewell), Hamish Cuming. Reps not used - Tom Glavina, John Widdowson.


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