A much changed London Cornish responded to the prompting of their DoR with a 5 try bonus point seasons best performance against 3rd placed Tottonians in this pulsating London 2 South-West encounter at the Richardson Evans on Saturday. The win was landed by 5 goals and two penalties to 2 goals, a try and two penalties to make the final score 41-25, though the exiles had to come back from 6-18 well into the second period after they had failed to finish a series of well crafted opportunities in the opening half.

Cornish had made 9 changes to the starting XV beaten the previous week, some positional but some based on selection as those attending a particularly physical training session were left in no doubt as to what is expected from them in the remaining weeks of the season. The home side gave a well deserved full debut to Mark Osei-Tutu at 6, and recalled George Johnson at 7, Dave Madigan at 9, centres Ian Keith and Graeme Smeaton, and wings Tom Dorse and Robin Heymann. Ed Nimmons moved into the row and Rich McKeown to his preferred spot at 10. With the pitch in perfect condition despite the recent deluge, Tottonians arrived on the back of 3 straight wins and 6 in their last 7 league matches, and in 3rd place in the division they would have had half an eye on events just down the A3 where the top two went head to head. There are excellent relations between these two clubs both on and off the field, so it was no surprise to see a strong visiting contingent amongst the attendance.

The exiles played towards the clubhouse in the opening period, the sun breaking through though the odd shower in the air. Cornish opened well, Nick Harlock drilling an early kick deep into Totts 22, but a penalty conceded at the lineout giving the visitors the chance to clear. On 5 minutes and with their opening foray following a decent counter by their full back, the visitors won a penalty just outside the home 22 to the left of the posts. With their normal kicker on the bench following a recent injury, the Hampshire sides 10 showed that have some depth in the kicking stakes and gave his side the lead. On 10 minutes Osei-Tutu made his first real impact on the game, snaffling a ball that had squirted out of the back of a Totts ruck on half way before bursting away and linking with Pete Calvert, Johnson, Mike Bond and Calvert again, who sped away from the cover to cross by the posts only to be called back for the final pass being forward. It took 13 minutes before a scrum was awarded, testament to the fine handling by both sides on a high octane opening. On 15 minutes it was Smeaton making the break, again linking with Johnson who drove into the visiting 22 only to be pinged for holding on the floor. 4 minutes later and Cornish were back on attack again, Dorse linking well with Johnson only for the final pass to go astray with the winger seemingly in the clear down the left flank. Cornish were causing their visitors all sorts of problems in the tight, and after a butchered scrum just outside their 22 on 23 minutes, Johnson won a penalty as the Totts back row were pinged for holding on, McKeown landing the first of 7 kicks out of 7 on the day to level things up. The Totts kicker pulled a relatively easy penalty wide on 27 from closer in than the one he had converted, and a minute later his side suffered a real blow when their 6 was injured and had to be replaced. On 30 Cornish took the lead for the first time, McKeown again slotting a penalty after the Totts backs were up too quickly at a lineout. On 33 minutes, Cornish broke again, Madigan sending Harlock into space down the right flank. A huge drive by Skipper Dave Theobald supported by Bond saw the ball spun to Calvert arriving at pace 5 yards out. He based through a tackle and over the line, only for the referee to be unsighted, the frustrations too much for the exiles whose backchat reversed the advantage of the penalty. Gradually settling into the game, and buoyed by the fact that Cornish had failed to add a try despite a series of decent chances, Totts demonstrated why they are such a strong side on 36 minutes, repeated phases and one missed tackle enough to see one of their backs score wide left, their kicker finding his range to give his side a 10-6 lead. The remaining minutes of the half belonged to the Hampshire side, and they extended their lead with a penalty from in front of the posts after Cornish were pinged for offside on 39 minutes. The half time whistle went with those watching wondering just how the home side could dominate for so long, and yet find themselves 7 points down!

At the start of the second period Osei-Tutu launched the first of a series of powerful, coruscating runs, bashing huge holes in the visitors defence down the right flank only for the ball to be knocked on as it went blind. Totts countered on 46 minutes, their full back again to the fore, and only great scrambling covering defence by Dorse prevented a score. Two minutes later Cornish lost a lineout inside their own 22 and a miss move in midfield gave the Totts left wing the chance to squeeze over for a well taken try right by the flag. This kick was missed but now the visitors had a seemingly unassailable 18-6 lead. A strong feeling amongst the home coaching team was that Cornish had to score next to stay in the game, the exiles having a fine record of strong second half performances this season. Winning the restart, Cornish won a penalty inside Totts half on 49, Madigan taking a quick tap and driving into the home 22. As the ball was worked to hooker Will Carew-Gibbs, a Totts player was pinged for offside, Cornish electing for the scrum V such was their confidence in the tight with their front row of Bond, Carew-Gibbs and Theobald enjoying only their 3rd match together. Two phases was all it required for the ball to be spun short to Nimmons, arriving at pace to twist out of a tackle and across the line half way to the posts, the referee well placed to award the score. McKeown converted and the deficit was reduced to 5. A palpable momentum shift now saw the exiles up the ante, with Osei-Tutu at the heart of much of the good work, repeatedly smashing over the gainline and often keeping his feet to make huge yardage, Johnson very quick to support him. On 56 minutes Cornish won a ball on floor on half way, quick hands from Bond, Carew-Gibbs and Harlock putting Heymann in space down the left. With a rare ability to step off both feet, the fleet footed wing left his opposite number for dead, stepped the full back and had enough gas to speed away from the covering Totts lock to score wide left, another in an increasing line of great tries from Cornish this season. McKeown added a fine conversion to regain his side the lead at 20-18. Back came Totts, and on 59 minutes their 12 smashed his way through a very poor tackle on the angle after series of phases to score right by the posts, the conversion a formality and Hampshire side back in the lead at 20-25. However, the pressure in the tight was proving a huge Achilles heal for the visiting side, rarely able to get clean ball away from the base as they were both driven off it and lost the put in after a wheel. On 64 minutes they paid the ultimate price when, following another Madigan break supported by Carew-Gibbs, Cornish elected for scrum V as the visitors were caught offside. As their scrum was driven back and over their line, their front row came up and their flanker kicked the ball out, the referee awarding the penalty try to no appeal from Totts. McKeown again divided the uprights and the lead was back with the home side at 27-25. Cornish made a change now, Charlie Wapshott returning for his first game for a month in place of Johnson, who could be well pleased with his days work. Totts were increasingly unable to make ground through their backs as Keith and Smeaton locked down the midfield, but their back 3 were still a real danger so the exiles would certainly need more to put the game to bed. On 69 minutes Cornish countered again, Madigan sending Harlock and Carew-Gibbs into space inside the 22. As he spun the ball out, the retreating Totts lock knocked it away, him being sent to the bin and Cornish electing for another scrum V. This time McEwen picked and drove to the line, the ball recycled to Carew-Gibbs who loves these positions, him twisting over for the try and the bonus point, McKeown again making it a maximum, Cornish out to a 34-25 lead. Thompson now came on for Smeaton, but he was only a spectator at the restart, Osei-Tutu claiming it then smashing through two tackles before linking with Dorse on half way, who drew the last man and gave the ball to Nimmons, him sprinting up the right flank and sliding across the line in a melee of bodies wide right, the referee unsurprisingly unable to award the score despite the exiles being convinced of the validity of an unawarded score for the second time in the match. At the scrum V Cornish knocked on, and the restored Totts kicker demonstrated that his boot is good as ever launching a clearing missile from on his dead ball line to half way. Now Cornish used the rolling maul, Nimmons and Theobald driving into the Totts 22 for Osei-Tutu to spin off the back and break through some tired tackles before planting the ball down for a hugely deserved score. McKeown banged over the extras to take the lead out to 16 points. Cornish brought on Serdarevic for McEwen for the remaining minutes, and on the final whistle few could argue that the better side hadn’t won on the day.

Tottonians are still the standard bearers for this division, and any side wishing to gain promotion out of it would seem to have to get past them first. They remain the most sociable of clubs, and the return match in a few weeks time will see the Totts bar under real threat - the game will be worth watching too as matches between these two sides so frequently are. With matches against Guildford and Trojans also to come, they will still have plenty of say in this seasons race at the top. The Cornish DoR was understandably pleased with his sides response to last weeks setback, and the challenge now is for his side to string wins and performances such as this one together. It took more than the changes in personnel to engineer this win, and it will take more again for this win to be replicated, but at least the blueprint has been set down!

LCRFC – Nick Harlock, Tom Dorse, Graeme Smeaton (Keith Thompson), Ian Keith, Robin Heymann, Rich McKeown, Dave Madigan, Andy McEwen (Miran Serdarevic), George Johnson (Charlie Wapshott), Mark Osei-Tutu, Ed Nimmons, Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald, Will Carew-Gibbs, Mike Bond.