Further evidence of the burgeoning confidence of this London Cornish side saw the exiles produce a devastating 40 minute spell either side of half time at Weybridge Vandals Brownacres HQ, to settle this match and move the visitors up a place to 3rd in London 2 South-West. The win was landed by virtue of 4 goals and two penalties to two goals as the bonus point was also secured.

Cornish gave a debut to new signing Mike Bond at loosehead, who has impressed since his arrival in the New Year. With Skip Dave Theobald back from his holidays, a strong front row was assembled. In the back row, George Johnson was preferred at 7 to Charlie Wapshott who benched, while in the backs Laurie Bridgett was called in to replace Tom Burns, who was away on holiday. On the bench there was also a debut for ex Vandals prop Rich Fisher, who has worked his way up through the Cornish sides in recent seasons. Vandals have sunk to the bottom of the league, but had taken the exiles scalp in the reverse fixture so they were not about to be taken lightly by their visitors. A well attended pre match lunch ensured a large crowd and the pitch was in the best condition your correspondent has seen it in recent years of visits.

Cornish played towards the clubhouse in the opening period, Bond twice involved in the visitors opening attack, which only ended when a V’s forward was penalized for not rolling away just on the 22 in front of the posts. Fly half Rich McKeown stepped up to give his side the early lead. Though Cornish dominated territory in the opening 10 minutes, they still looked a little rusty and lacked the fluency to finish. With the aid of a couple of penalties to clear their lines, Vs worked their way into the visitors half, and on 13 minutes gained a surprise lead when their left wing found space to clear away from the cover and round the posts, the conversion a formality. Worse was to follow for the exiles, for on 16 minutes the same wing was judged to have been hit by a late tackle after he chipped through down the flank, the ball landing 5 yards from the visiting tryline and the miscreant sentenced to 10 minutes in the bin. This is such a tough defence to break down however, and after failing to secure the lineout cleanly, the home side lost control of the scrum and the ball was turned over for Cornish to counter. The ball was worked from McKeown, through Ian Keith to Graeme Smeaton, who attacked a small gap before releasing Nick Harlock into the Vs half. Quickly recycled ball down the left wing saw the ball worked to Rob Heymann, who stepped inside and was tackled, Vs penalized for not releasing the tackled player and gasping as their lumpy pack struggled to keep pace with the play. Though well struck, the penalty into the very strong cross field wind flew wide. Now restored to full numbers, the fluency had now started to return to the visitors play, aided by the best set piece performance of the season so far, Will Carew-Gibbs firing great arrows at the lineout, and the tight 5 in good form. On 29 minutes, repeated phases saw lock Pete Calvert drive deep into the Vs 22, and after another thrust from Harlock quick ball was worked left to put the flying Heymann into the space he needed to dive over the tryline on the left flank for a great team try. McKeown drove a superb kick into the wind and between the uprights from the left hand touchline and a 10-7 lead. Now completely in the ascendancy, another burst, this time from Simon Brading linking with the irrepressible Johnson, again saw the home side transgress inside their 22, the referee losing patience with the home 9 who hit the bin. McKeown again struck the ball well and now the lead was out to 13-7. With just a minute to half time, Vs attacked deep inside the exiles 22, but the ball was turned over by Calvert. The counterattack that followed was a candidate for the Cornish try of the season, Harlock bursting clear out of the 22 to link with Heymann over half way. He stepped his man and passed inside to the supporting Bond, who drew the last defender and slipped the ball to Smeaton, arriving at pace on his shoulder to clear away and dive over underneath the posts. McKeown converted and Cornish had turned the game on its head at half-time, them 20-7 up.

The second period began with the home side responding, but they missed a kickable penalty on 42 minutes and were made to pay three minutes later. Forcing the game, the home side tried to run the ball out of their 22, but were caught for Calvert to again turn the ball over. Two phases was all it took for Cornish to work a huge overlap down the short side, no 8 Andrew McEwen deservedly crashing over for the score, McKeown adding the extras and Vs seemingly beaten, though back up to full numbers. Within minutes Harlock attacked from deep again, this time electing to kick ahead for the ball to roll over the tryline, Vs back beating Bridgett to the touchdown by a whisker for the dropout. Another attack on 52 saw Heymann put in space down the left flank, and as he drew the last man and passed inside, the referee was bang in line to call the play back for the forward pass. Cornish turned the scrum over, Calvert and Phil Ridsdale an increasingly influential pair in the Cornish engine room. McEwen picked up and drove across the line only for the referee to be unsighted. No matter, for at the 5 metre scrum Cornish drove Vandals back over their line, and as McEwen was about to pounce on the ball, the home side transgressed once more for the referee to award the penalty try and secure the visitors the precious bonus point, McKeown again providing the extras. To their great credit, Vandals upped a gear now, and after constant pressure inside the Cornish 22, a sharp offload gave one of their number the crash across the line by the posts on 58 minutes, the score converted to reduce the deficit to 34-14. Cornish made a change now, Brading replaced by Wapshott in the back row. On the hour mark the Vs 7 was injured and replaced, and Cornish took the opportunity to rest scrummie Dave Madigan, O’Daly on at 10 and McKeown moving in to 9. Both sides tired in the remaining minutes as the game broke up, though twice Vs attacked from deep and nearly broke through only for superb covering tackles to end the attacks, first by Heymann and then by Harlock on the dangerous Vs left wing as he attempted to cross in the corner, the Vs player not able to continue after the crunching hit. Fisher was given his moment in the remaining minutes, on for Bond who could be well satisfied with his debut, and though on the defensive for the remaining minutes, Cornish held their hosts at bay for a satisfying win.

It’s going to be a tough battle for Vandals to avoid the drop from this point without their talismanic open-wide Skipper, who is out for the season. They do have a huge pack and some decent weaponary out wide with a very capable back 3, but they need to be winning soon or the gap to the pack will be too great. They remain great hosts and we wish them well for the remainder of their season. Cornish have completed a mini tour of 4 consecutive away matches and now embark on a run of 5 home matches in their next 7 league games. These will determine their season they begin with the visit next Saturday of 2nd placed Guildford to The Richardson Evans.

LCRFC – Nick Harlock, Laurie Bridgett, Graeme Smeaton, Ian Keith, Robin Heymann, Rich McKeown, Dave Madigan (Conor O’Daly), Andrew McEwen, George Johnson, Simon Brading (Charlie Wapshott), Phil Ridsdale, Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs, Mike Bond (Rich Fisher).