LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
29/09/07
LONDON CORNISH v COBHAM

London Cornish 3 - Cobham 43

The final scoreline in this match was tough on a Cornish side who demonstrated defensive capabilities unseen since the opening day win at Tottonians. Cobham are a fine side whose pack will be too powerful for most of the sides in this division, and it took a herculean effort from a Cornish side decimated by illness, injury and unavailability to restrict their visitors to the score they did. The exiles will need to recover quickly as their next game is against another unbeaten side, London Irish Amateur, the battle of the 'Two Nations' taking place at Sudbury next weekend.

All sides have injury problems during seasons and all face rough periods, but it is particularly tough when a gastric illness sweeps through a club to compound the issue of RWC unavailability and mass injuries. In this match Cornish even lost a player in the warm up as he too succumbed to illness. With four more injuries to add on the day, and the unwelcome sight of an ambulance called to an injured Cornish player in the 3s (the second dislocated knee the 3s have suffered this season already), it seems someone at Cornish needs to make peace with the Gods fast! From the off in this game Cobham attacked and it quickly became apparent that they rely even more heavily on their rolling maul than they did in their last unbeaten season. However, Cornish had loaded their back row with powerful players and gave no quarter, the outstanding Will Ho making his first start of the season with prop Ben Wheeler also playing well at blindside. Cobham repeatedly threw to their 4 jumper, and as obvious as the tactic may be, when the guy is as agile as he is even bad throws are made to look good ones. Time and again Cornish took the man down as soon as he landed from the lineout, the frustration growing for the visitors. With the front row of Andy Renner, Will Carew-Gibbs and Skipper Ben Shribman taking no backward steps in the tight, Cornish threatened on a couple of occasions in the opening quarter. Just when it seemed the storm had passed, Cobham broke from a maul and crashed over out wide, the well struck conversion giving them a 7-0 lead. On 23 minutes Pete Calvert won good lineout ball on the left for the exiles, and on the third phase scrum half Rich Gregory angled a superb kick deep inside the Cobham 22, from where Cornish drove the defender into touch. Quick ball off the top and a ruck in midfield saw Cobham caught offside in front of the posts. Dan Pollard, playing in his fourth different position in 4 matches slotted the penalty to narrow the gap. However hard Cobham battered the Cornish defence they simply could not break through and they were driven to greater distraction as the exiles started taking the occasional ball against the head in the tight. On 28 minutes it all got too much for one of the visiting front row whose punch was spotted by the referee who consigned the miscreant to the sin bin. The monstrous tackle count was due in part to the fact that in selecting a powerful back row, Cornish had surrendered a little speed around the park, and they were frequently turned over in possession, particularly when the ball went wide. A real indication of the fine effort of the Cornish pack in this first period saw the visitors decline the chance to kick to the corner on 36 minutes and kick for goal instead - the kick was missed. Finally, on the stroke of half time Cobham broke through again to score way out on the right after a quick Cornish throw in went awry. The half time score of 12-3 to Cobham was just about right and harsh words could be heard from the oppo coaching team.

Early in the second half fly half John Barker was the recipient of a body check that saw him leave the field for good, Pollard switching to the 10 slot he occupied last season and the ailing Dave Furze coming on at centre. On 46 minutes Cobham added to their tally when they muscled over on the far left, the kick slotted and the lead stretched to 19-3. Still the home side resisted despite suffering a growing penalty count against them. However, a few poor decisions and poor execution in the backline saw ball turned over and the tackle count was working Cornish overtime. The next score came from a fly hack not being fielded, the flying Cobham right wing able to pounce on the error and score. Two bright spots in the Cornish backline were the debut of former Rosslyn Park player James Hessey and the performance of Mike Harvey on the wings. Their tidy work throughout promises much for the season ahead. With an hour on the clock the exiles had restricted Cobham to a 24-3 lead but at this point Cornish lost both Ho and Renner to injury, Mark Williams-Jones coming on to make his debut at 8 and Jonty Saunders switching to open side to replace the former, Club Captain James Turnbull coming on at prop to replace the latter. Though lock Rob Webster worked hard to restrict the visitors on their own ball at the lineouts, the flow of ball to the Cobham backs must be the stuff of their dreams and they began to work the tiring home backline. Pollard suffered a nasty foot injury and played out the game as a passenger on the wing and the visitors fashioned 3 more scores in the final 10 minutes to give the score a slightly lopsided reflection. Cornish did fashion a couple of chances themselves in this closing period as the game opened up, one in particular involving full back Tim Mucken saw a 4 on 2 frustratingly butchered. The final whistle went with a 43-3 home defeat one of the biggest home defeats Cornish have suffered in the last 5 seasons.

Cornish have played Cobham home and away for the last 3 seasons, and there can be no doubt that the London 4 South-West Champions have their sights set firmly on another unbeaten season. They have recruited well through their Esher links and have plenty of experience to carry them through their tougher matches. We wish them well as they continue to be as fine a side off the pitch as they are on it. What can Cornish take from a game where they have again suffered a heavy defeat? The truth may not be known for a few weeks yet, but it was at least a step forward for the club to field 3 complete sides this weekend, and the road to recovery has to begin with such small steps.

LCRFC – Tim Mucken, Mike Harvey, Matt Strover, Dan Pollard, James Hessey, John Barker (Dave Furze), Rich Gregory, Jonty Saunders, Will Ho (Mark Williams-Jones), Ben Wheeler, Rob Webster, Pete Calvert, Ben Shribman (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs, Andy Renner (James Turnbull).


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