At the start of the season, London Cornish set 3 goals in order for 2016-17: 1/ to win London 2 South-West, 2/ to win the league unbeaten, and 3/ to win the Intermediate Cup. This game proved that, in order to achieve 1 and give themselves a chance of 2, 3 was a step too far for a squad a large number of whom had made themselves available for most of the league matches, but not the later Cup rounds. Indeed, were it not for Mike Bond coming out of semi-retirement to play, this match could have been conceded before a ball was kicked in anger! As it was, Charlton Park thoroughly deserved their place in the Semi-Final, having weathered a 1st half Cornish storm then struck with their only opportunity in that half before easing away in the second period as an unfamiliar exiles team could not muster the defensive stability required to hold out.
Cornish consider themselves to have significant riches in the front row department, so it was something of a shock when Dave Theobald, Tom Lloyd and Rory Ling were all away on holiday, while Gregor Morris, Rich Fisher and Tim Homan were injured! With Dan Leo also still away on holiday, blind side Nick Goss, who is an occasional hooker, started in the back row, but another prop was required so Bond volunteered to bench and trained, having given up the game to coach last season, though his registration remained intact. Allied to this, the first 3 choices at scrum half were also unavailable, so Chris Smart re-worked his sometime role in that shirt, whilst Joe Donnelly stepped in at centre in place of the injured (though released from hospital) Dave Funston and Miles Rushworth. At full back, with 20 try top scorer Dave Smith away on holiday and Robin Trott injured, Tom Jeffery moved back from his wing slot to take up the position.
On a perfect pitch in front of a sparse crowd for a National Cup Q/F, no doubt thinned by the attraction of the 6 Nations, Cornish opened playing towards the clubhouse. The London 2 South-West Champions were quickly on the board, fly half George Kimmins jinking his way through and under the posts on 6 minutes, him converting his own try. Despite a penalty landed by the visitors on 13 minutes, the exiles were utterly dominant for a period now, a penalty flying wide on 17 before a series of battering drives by Harry Somers, Matt Hakes and Tom Ievers took play to 5 out, where hooker Jake Slade drove to the line and planted the ball over it for a try, this one not improved but the home side out to a 12-3 lead. Worse was almost to follow for Park, as a loose kick was returned with interest by wing Chris Kolapo-Ajala, but the ball was spilt when a try looked certain, and the penalty advantage was gone. With Tom Ievers having his best game of the season, Cornish gave no quarter for a period, and lesser sides would have been buried as rolling mauls and angled runners repeatedly drove the visitors back into their 22, another exiles penalty slamming into an upright on 33 minutes. On 39 minutes a crucial passage in the match turned it on its head - Tom Ievers broke clear from inside his own half, and with supporting runners either side of him and a try seemingly a formality, the ball squirmed away to be picked up by a visiting back just yards from his own try line. With most of the exiles down one side of the pitch or up in support, the lad tore down the left flank, drew the last man and sent his team mate away for a try under the posts. The conversion made the score 12-10 at the break, and Park could probably scarcely believe their luck having been outgunned for much of the opening period.
Crucially, Cornish now had to resort to using their bench, Oli Low replaced by Bond at the break. Clearly buoyed by their late 1st half score, Park upped their game, and found a normally resilient exiles defence decidedly porous, not helped by Donnelly having aggravated a knee injury, which soon saw him withdrawn, Paddy Dean on at 10 and Kimmins moving to 13. Park took the lead with a penalty on 55 minutes, and for all they were second best in the opening period, they now began playing a great brand of all court rugby, their lumpy runners making ground with every carry. With the scrum under pressure and conceding penalties, it did not take long for the persistent attacks to break down the exiles d, a converted try on 58 taking the lead out to 8. A collapsed scrum ended Slades participation in the match at this point, Goss moving to hooker and Mark Osei-Tutu continuing his steady comeback from 2 months out at 6. This seemed to briefly spark Cornish, and it was Osei-Tutu who made the hard yards before a blind side move saw Dean and Chatley send Hakes away wide left for an unconverted try on 62, game seemingly back on at 20-17 to Park. However, with the set pieces under serious pressure and uncertainty in the solidity of their defensive structure, the home side conceded further tries on 65 minutes under the posts, and 76 minutes wide left to really kill the game off. It was an understandably overjoyed Charlton Park who greeted the final whistle, good value for their ultimately comfortable win.
It was great to see Park come back to the Roehampton CC post match, and its quite possible their DoR is still there as he outlasted your correspondent and demonstrated that there is nothing wrong with the social side of rugby at this level, the heady mix of pasties and Tribute bitter clearly to his taste! We wish them well in their ongoing quest for promotion, which continues with a key match at Medway on Saturday. I hope they have recovered from their celebrations by then!
Whilst this is a missed opportunity for Cornish, it is simply a fact that players who have fronted up on 19 league occasions to win the league can be forgiven the odd week off, and it would be harsh to condemn anyone for having a holiday at this point. That 2nd goal for the season now looms back into focus, and in the 3 remaining league games it is not surprising that availability is way better than it was on this occasion.