London Cornish ruthlessly punished every mistake made by their hosts KCS Old Boys to continue their fine start to this London 2 South-West season in the west London local derby in New Malden on Saturday. The visitors triumphed by 4 goals and 4 tries to 2 goals and a penalty in a game that was won and lost in the opening period.
A fine, bright day greeted the sides on their arrival at the home sides Arthur Road HQ, all of the pitches on view in immaculate condition and the 1s pitch demonstrating just why Surrey use it for age group matches. The hosts came into the match having been level transferred back from their 1 season exile to the South-East division of the level and having gone down to a 1 point defeat and a late converted try in their opening league game. Cornish made a couple of changes from their opening day win, Will Carew-Gibbs starting at hooker with George Johnson moving to loose head in place of the absent Hamish Cuming, Dave Madigan moving to his preferred slot at 9 with Dan Frost away, and Nick Harlock returning on the wing in his place. The bench saw a league debut handed to prop Ronnie Gunson, and there were also returns for Mike Allewell and Ali Lindsay.
Cornish settled remarkable quickly and scored in the first minute, a superb interplay between the props Skipper Dave Theobald and Johnson sending lock Ed Nimmons away at the angle to score near the posts for Rich McKeown to convert. A shell-shocked KCS also took their first opportunity to get the scoreboard ticking when their kicker struck a penalty from some range on 8 minutes for a player coming in at the side. On 10 minutes the exiles suffered a real blow when talismanic no 8 Andrew McEwen fell awkwardly in a tackle, his shoulder awaiting news of scans and x rays before we can realistically assess the damage. On came Allewell at 6 with Simon Brading bringing his experience to bear in the 8 slot and Chris Alder moving to 7. It did not halt the visitors progress, for on 16 minutes it was Brading himself who kicked through for Allewell to recover as it bounced away from the cover, a couple of quick passes in midfield found waiting wing Ben Carew-Gibbs, who had too many wheels for the cover and sped over wide left, the conversion this time flying wide. With Madigan keeping a high tempo, the home side were constantly on the rack now, and 5 minutes later they conceded again when a quick tap by the scrum half put Ben Carew-Gibbs in space again, him stepping inside to sprint away and score under the posts under the watchful eye of his proud father, McKeown again converting to stretch the score out to a seemingly unassailable 3-19. Though the set pieces were fairly even, the more limited game plan utilized by KCS seemed to play into the hands of a big and mobile Cornish pack, too often able to turn over the ball and counter at speed. The pressure began to get to the home backline, and on the half hour a skewed clearance kick from inside their 22 flew up and wide, from where it was expertly plucked by a reaching Nimmons, him bouncing an attempted tackle before demonstrating an alarming turn of pace for a lock to sprint over wide left and claim the bonus point, the kick across a freshening breeze well converted to stretch the lead to 23 points. The pain wasn’t over for the home side either in this half, a searing break from an in form Brading on half way seeing him have options left and right, Madigan the recipient to scorch clear and score, this time the conversion flying wide. The home side had been repelled on a couple of occasions with a useful rolling maul in the opening period, but otherwise they can have had few complaints about a half time score of 3-31.
A feature of the opening period had been the irrepressible work on the floor of the rejigged exiles back row, and they continued to ensure a steady supply of broken field ball to the backline at the start of the second period. Now it was right wing Harlocks turn to see some action, first when he stepped clean through only to be called back for an accidental obstruction by the referee, an attacking scrum awarded to Cornish. Then from the resultant scrum, a set play saw Harlock given a smidgeon of room down the narrow side from a cutout pass from Madigan, this enough for him to turn on the afterburners that had made him Rosslyn Park’s top try scorer in the national leagues a couple of seasons back, the score wide right. The conversion fell short but the lead was out to 33. The home side were gradually beginning to find their feet now, and threatened on a couple of occasions with a series of pick and drives down the right flank, any opportunity to put their excellent full back in space used as often as possible. However, they were turned over by Alder and the ball was spun wide and worked upfield. A penalty awarded to the visitors on 58 minutes was taken quickly and with full back Tom Hurley entering the line at pace, a clean line break exposed the KCS rearguard once more, Allewell on hand to take an inside pass and skip clear to score half way in to the posts. One of the more woeful attempts at a conversion followed, but the score put the game completely to bed. Cornish made a couple of changes now, Will Carew-Gibbs resting a hand injury for Gunson to make his debut, Johnson moving to hooker, and Ali Lindsay in on the wing for Hurley, Ben Carew-Gibbs moving to full back. It was really out of the blue that the home side scored next – a clearance kick was fielded by the aforementioned full back, who proceed to plot an angled course across the exiles defence and around it wide right, him able to scoot round under the posts, I think him converting his own score. This was the first try the exiles had conceded in 146 minutes of league rugby so far this season, so the defence can be forgiven the lapse. On 70 minutes Cornish kicked a penalty for the corner and worked a rolling maul close to the line, Gunson prominent in the close quarter exchanges. Three more phases close in gave Calvert the chance to demonstrate that he knows where the try line is too, him reaching out to plant the ball over the whitewash some distance to the left of the posts, the conversion made by O’Daly. Any thoughts the exiles had of reaching the half century were banished by a strong finish from the home side, who gained their reward in the closing minutes when a forward completed a series of drives to twist out of a tackle and plant the ball down for a converted score. With both sides out on their feet, two tired sides welcomed the final whistle a few minutes later.
KCS are always great hosts post match, and continued the fine tradition on this occasion as the two clubs maintain strong relations. It is clear that they were a few players short of their strongest side on this day, and they were as keen to hear how some of their squad went in comebacks for the 2s on the day as they were to see the scores from that match! We wish them well and will see them for the rematch pre Xmas.
Cornish will be pleased to have backed up their opening day win so emphatically, though the coaching team were quick to point out that the second half was actually only won 17-14 and the side has tougher challenges ahead on which to focus. The depth at the club this season was backed up by the 2s fine win at Dorking in the Shield, so competition for places continues to drive performance.

LCRFC - Tom Hurley (Ali Lindsay), Nick Harlock, Conor O'Daly, Ian Keith, Ben Carew-Gibbs, Rich McKeown, Dave Madigan, Andrew McEwen (Mike Allewell), Simon Brading, Chris Alder, Ed Nimmons, Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs (Ronnie Gunson), George Johnson.