London Cornish made light of the enforced break to produce a dominant second half display and win going away on their first ever visit to Gosport Park on Saturday. The win was secured by a goal, 2 tries and 2 penalties to two tries as the visitors turned round a 10-8 deficit at the break to win the match 23-10.
The exiles had only managed one training session in the last fortnight of snow and ice, but had selected a very experienced side on the day, continuing to reflect an increasing number of players available as the injury list recedes completelty. The late withdrawal of loosehead Hamish Cuming with flu notwithstanding, this was as strong an 18 as Cornish have fielded all season. The DoR’s habit of visiting away grounds in the summer to assess the best routes paid off, the side arriving in good time at their destination despite the 2 hour journey. Gosport Park rests on a spit of land jutting out in the estuary in Gosport, the series of pitches actually forming the coastline. An overcast but very still day greeted the teams, a decent crowd down both touchlines but even more watching from the warmth and comfort of the clubhouse upstairs.
What breeze there was favoured the home side, playing down a slight slope from right to left as you looked out of the clubhouse. They have a decent home record, counting wins over two of the top 5 here so far this season, so Cornish knew that the London 3 South-West Champions would be no easy touch. The opening 5 minutes saw Gosport return a loose kick with interest and camp in the exiles 22. They were up against the best defence in the league however, and the impetus was halted by a shuddering tackle from Graeme Smeaton at 13. The ball was turned over and cleared and the next quarter of an hour saw two rusty sides trying to get their gameplans moving, but being hampered by overuse of the boot, with kicks generally directionless. The exiles back 3 was particularly rusty in their co-ordination of kick returns, and it was from one of these down the left flank that the home side opened the scoring, a Cornish back slow to respond to the kick and being snaffled on the floor for the ball to break clear inside the visiting 22 for a Gos back to pick up and dive over. The conversion attempt flew wide of the upright but the home side were 5-0 to the good. Cornish responded instantly, wing Robin Heymann demonstrating that he is fully recovered from the hamstring strain suffered in October, his searing run catching a Gos hand in a ruck, the penalty kicked to the corner. Classic Cornish rugby followed, the lineout won, the maul set and the oppo unable to prevent a steamrolling maul from crashing across their line for no 8 Andrew McEwen to claim the score. This conversion was also missed, but the exiles had served notice of their intention to take on the Gosport side up front. Back came the home side as the quality and pace of the match lifted. They won a penalty on 25 minutes on half way for a visitor not rolling away, and their 9 took off down the right flank, shrugging off 2 tackles to plunge across the line, his path to the posts crucially cut off by the recovering Cornish back line. This conversion fell short but the Hampshire side were back in the lead at 10-5. However, with the exiles front row of George Johnson, Will Carew-Gibbs and Dave Theobald having the nudge in the tight, Cornish were gradually wresting control of the set pieces. They went blind from a scrum on 28 minutes to set Heymann on his way again. He jinked inside and linked with McEwen who charged deep into the Gos half. As the exiles went open, so the home backs were caught offside, fly half Conor O’Daly driving the penalty between the uprights to reduce the deficit to 10-8. Gos missed a very long range penalty attempt on the half hour mark, but two minutes later worked room down the right flank to open up their visitors only to be called back for a forward pass as they reached the exiles try line. With 4 minutes left on the clock, Gos lost control at the base of an attacking scrum for the ball to be fly hacked into their half, scrum half Dave Madigan quickest to react. As the Gos 14 chased into his 22 to recover, he played the ball on the floor with exiles all around him in the clear, the early Christmas card provided by the referee but the penalty striking the near post and flying wide. The momentum was now visibly with the visitors, a cracking passage of play from a lineout won by the irrepressible Pete Calvert, seeing the ball through 6 pairs of hands, Simon Brading, Carew-Gibbs, Johnson, Madigan, Ian Keith and finally McEwen linking to drive the ball to the shadow of the posts. To their intense frustration with the home sides defence in disarray, a penalty fairly given for a player coming in from the side halted the move in its tracks, the whistle going for half time shortly afterward.
Now playing with the slight advantage of pitch slope and elements in their favour, Cornish began the second half smartly, O’Daly launching an arrowing kick deep into the Gos 22, where it was scrambled into touch. For the next 8 minutes Cornish camped inside the home half, interrupted only briefly when lock Ed Nimmons dislocated a finger to be replaced by Phil Ridsdale. Ridsdale has won this league before with Chichester, and his return to form and fitness is a huge boost to the exiles as he has barely played a minute so far this season. The home side were bolstered by their 14 returning from the bin at this point, but the pressure on his side was now relentless. From a lineout Cornish worked the ball from right to left on the Gos 22 only for a home back to kill the ball, O’Daly striking a fine penalty from wide left to give his side the lead for the first time, 11-10. Cornish made another change on 55 minutes, Keith succumbing to flu for Rich McKeown on in his place, McKeown bringing another dimension to the visitors back play. The Hampshire side were increasingly reliant on sporadic forays by their marauding full back from loose kicks as their lineout too was now misfiring under real pressure from Calvert, but too often the 15 was not supported in his endeavours and the danger was snuffed out by an increasingly solid Cornish defence. Gos nearly snatched an unlikely try on 58 minutes when a clearing kick was charged down inside the exiles 22 to bounce into the vast in goal area, where Bridgett was just quickest to respond to dive on the ball for the drop out. On the hour mark Allewell went down with a knee injury, the exiles fortunate to have another like for like replacement on the bench, Miran Serdarevic another gradually working his way back to fitness after over a year out with injury. On 68 minutes and after another fine McEwen driving run and a further phase ending with Bridgett crashing into their 22, Cornish worked the ball through Madigan and O’Daly to Dorse arriving on the angle at pace to pierce the Gos defence down the short side and dive over the try line for a thoroughly deserved team score. O’Daly improved the try and now his side was out to an 18-10 lead. Gos looked a spent force now, their forwards in particular seemingly lacking the fitness of their visitors. Back came the exiles again, winning a kickable penalty on 73 minutes only to see it fly wide of the posts. Unable to clear their lines far from the 22, Gos were soon back in defence as McKeown linked with Smeaton to send Johnson burrowing back into the home 22. Winning another penalty for offside at the ruck, Cornish kicked to the corner but this time instead of rolling the maul, they set a decoy before flicking the ball to McEwen arriving at pace to crash through a tackle and across the line for another excellent team score. Though the conversion was missed, there were now 4 minutes left for the exiles to try and secure the bonus point try. Twice they fashioned room down the right flank but opted to kick for space and could not recover the ball. When time finally ran out, it was actually a disappointed visiting side who greeted the final whistle.
Gosport & Fareham have a young and talented backline with a few neat tricks to confound their opposition. They also provide a beer with the post match meal, which is a nice touch. Their away record is not so clever, so they cannot afford to lose too many at home, results elsewhere on the day likely to have them looking nervously over their heads in the weeks before and after the Xmas break. We wish them well as they are a decent bunch of lads who were honest in their assessment of the game.
Cornish may have been disappointed not to gain the bonus point, but they continue to show improved form from the travails of the injury ravaged October. This win on the road will give them more belief, crucial in such a tight division.

LCRFC – Tom Dorse, Robin Heymann, Graeme Smeaton, Ian Keith (Rich McKeown), Laurie Bridgett, Conor O’Daly, Dave Madigan, Andrew McEwen, Simon Brading, Mike Allewell (Miran Serdarevic), Ed Nimmons (Phil Ridsdale), Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs, George Johnson.