London Cornish finally managed to piece together back to back victories for the first time since the opening 3 games of the season, when a 3 try spell in 11 second half minutes took them away from an improving and dogged Gosport & Fareham to move the exiles back up to 6th in London 2 South-West at the REMPF on Saturday. On a day not best remembered for its place kicking, the home side prevailed by 5 tries and a penalty to 2 tries and 2 penalties.

Cornish had been forced into a couple of changes on the day, Will Carew-Gibbs returning from injury at hooker after a 5 week absence in place of the unavailable George Johnson, and top points scorer Rich McKeown also returning from injury in at a makeshift scrum half in place of Dave Madigan, him also unavailable. With annoying predictability, unforecast rain appeared from nowhere to soak the pitch in the hour prior to kick off, rain seeming to have dogged the exiles home matches this season! With the ground being prepared for the Rosslyn Park 7s this week, marquees and vans were everywhere, but the pitch was in perfect condition and the in-form visitors arrived on the back of 4 wins in their last 5 league and Cup matches, so no-one took this game for granted.

Cornish played towards the clubhouse in the opening half, and were on the board just 90 seconds into the match, a Gos attack breaking down in the exiles 22 for wing Ed Good to counter from deep, him sending Nick Harlock clear from inside his own half to cross wide right, a well struck conversion attempt slamming into the nearside post and down the wrong side but the length of the pitch try serving early notice of intent. On 3 and 5 minutes, the Hampshire Cup finalists won and missed kickable penalties for rucking offences, both kicks sliding right of the uprights. On 11 minutes, and following a superb angled kick by Conor O’Daly and Ed Nimmons snaffling the Gos lineout, Cornish worked a great backs move to send Iain Short into space, only to be pinged for crossing. The visitors cleared their lines but 3 minutes later conceded a kickable penalty following another powerful Harlock counter, but this kick slid right of the posts as both kickers struggled with a freshening cross wind. Two minutes later and Cornish kicked another penalty to the corner after a Robin Heymann run was halted and the visitors offended at the following ruck, but as the exiles worked their rolling maul up to the line, they were penalized for truck and trailer, unforced errors frustrating the dominant home side. With the Cornish front 5 once again causing all sorts of problems for their oppo in the tight, on 25 minutes Mark Osei-Tutu crashed through a tackle to be downed inside the Gos 22 where another offence was committed by the home side, and this time O’Daly divided the posts to ease his side out to 8-0. 5 minutes later Gos kicked a penalty of their own when the home side conceded for hands in the till. Having survived the initial Cornish onslaught with only a 5 point deficit, the Hampshire side now demonstrated their own brand of attacking rugby, a box kick down the left flank recovered by their wing, whose infield chip bounced awkwardly over the line between the posts only for an onrushing Gos back to knock on in the act of gathering the ball in. Within 2 minutes the visitors turned the game on its head when a missed tackle allowed their centre to crash over to level the score, the conversion again missing right. 3 minutes later and the visitors had the lead, Cornish pinged for holding after a runner became isolated in a central position, and the visiting kicker finding his range to give his team an 11-8 half time lead.

Cornish have repeatedly demonstrated that they are side who score the vast majority of their points in the second half of matches, and once again they opened the second period in a different gear, kicking a penalty to the left hand corner on 42 minutes for Nimmons to once again claim the lineout, and the pack to rumble a rolling maul up to and over the line, no 8 Andrew McEwen the beneficiary with his 11th try in 18 league appearances regaining his side the lead at 13-11. As O’Daly approached the conversion the ball blew over, but his snap drop goal attempt from the left hand touchline only just flew wide. On 44 and 46 minutes, the visitors twice attempted and missed penalties, one for obstruction from the right touchline and another easy chance from in front of the posts for the home side going off their feet at a ruck. Now enjoying a period of domination of their own, Gos proceeded to mimick their hosts profligacy, knocking on in good positions and being penalized for lineouts not thrown in straight in attacking positions. On 54 minutes the referee finally lost patience with Cornish and carded one of their forwards for not releasing the tackled player, but this kick also flew wide. In the past few weeks, Cornish have seemingly gained strength from going down a man, and here too it seemed to result in a step change in gears. On 57 minutes a barnstorming McEwen run was supported by open side Chris Alder and worked to Good, but a great covering tackle bundled him into touch inside the Gos 22 down the right flank. Nimmons, a consistent threat to the visitors lineout in this his last game for the club before work takes him to Aberdeen, pinched the lineout and set up a maul. When it was sacked, Skip Dave Theobald made a few hard yards and so did McKeown who appeared to have scored only for the referee to be unsighted. From the scrum v, Cornish battered away until finally Carew-Gibbs picked and drove to the line, then seemed to bewitch the Gos d by his exaggerated release when tackled, for he simply regathered and smashed under a tackle to score a crucial try half way in to the posts, the conversion mishit into the wind and wide left. The exiles made a change, Tom Burns back from injury in place of Heymann on the left wing. Now Cornish were utterly dominant, Theobald, Carew-Gibbs and Mike Bond giving no peace in the tight and Nimmons and Ridsdale increasingly dominant at lineout time. When the bin was reversed, Cornish made another change, Charlie Wapshott on in place of Osei-Tutu. Gos conceded repeated penalties inside their 22 on 66 and 67 minutes, only the arbiter able to explain how his cards stayed in his pocket! Finally, on 72 Cornish went blind off a scrum for Harlock and Graeme Smeaton to send Burns into space, him crashing through one tackle and carrying another with him to plant the ball over the line for the bonus point score, the lead suddenly out to 23-11. Stunned by the this reversal, Gos attacked down their left flank on 74, only for the ball to break free in a tackle, Short fly hacking down the right for the ball to be gathered by Smeaton on half way and offloaded to Harlock arriving at pace on his outside. As the cover came across, Harlock used his strength and momentum to carry the tackler with him and plunge across the whitewash for the try, this conversion attempt barely getting off the ground! Cornish now brought on Hamish Cuming for Bond, and he was quickly into action, rumbling into the visitors 22 only to lose the ball at the maul. Finally, with 2 minutes left on the clock Gos scored a late consolation try when their left wing was sent clear to cross wide left, the conversion similar to all the others in the match, missing.

Gosport & Fareham set the pre season target of consolidating their promotion to London 2 South-West, and having now achieved this aim, they have the added and welcome bonus of a Hampshire Cup Final to contest in a few weeks time. A Committee and supporters with doses of amusing and balanced pitch side lines, they were welcome and participative visitors to The Telegraph post match, and we will look forward to both matches against them next season. Good luck with your Cup final Gos. Cornish have finally managed to settle on a squad of around 20 players, and in a season where injury and unavailability have forced the use of 45 players in 21 league games, this is timely. How far the season stretches now, only time will tell.

LCRFC – Nick Harlock, Ed Good, Graeme Smeaton, Iain Short, Robin Heymann (Tom Burns), Conor O’Daly, Rich McKeown, Andrew McEwen, Chris Alder, Mark Osei-Tutu (Charlie Wapshott), Ed Nimmons, Phil Ridsdale, Dave Theobald (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs, Mike Bond (Hamish Cuming).