A strong final quarter saw London Cornish recover their poise and return to winning ways at Andover’s Goodship Ground headquarters on Saturday. The points see Cornish remain in 2nd spot in London 2 South-West, well placed but with plenty of challenges ahead.
Cornish made a series of changes to the side who relinquished the league leadership the week before, Player of the Year Will Carew-Gibbs in at hooker for the unavailable Tim Homan, Joe Bough given a full debut at lock in place of the unavailable Ben Ievers, Ed Atkin returning at 9, Joe Donnelly in at 13 in place of the unavailable Luke Spells, Stefan Duda back on the wing in place of Matt Hakes and Josh Allison returning at full back for the injured Jackson Szabo. On the bench there were also long awaited returns for Captain Dave Theobald, back row Simon Brading and wing Robin Heymann as some depth finally returned to the exiles squad.
The visitors were surprised to find the Andover pitch remarkably firm under foot despite steady rain falling before and during the match, a credit to the home ground staff. Cornish played down the hill in the opening half, though any advantage on the marked sloped pitch was negated by a very strong wind blowing up it. The visitors lost a man with their very first attack, tight head Mark O’Leary tweaking a hamstring, and his demise saw Skipper Dave Theobald on in his favourite position. The home side started well, and missed a penalty from some way out on 9 minutes. However, they were badly hampered throughout by a malfunctioning lineout, in part due to a very strong game by Harry Somers jumping at 2. Cornish were next to miss a kickable penalty on 20 minutes, this one from in front into the wind striking an upright before being knocked on. Andover have been able to dominate many of their matches in the tight so far this season, but not on this day, forcing their forwards to have to find a plan b, Carew-Gibbs twice taking balls against the head but good d holding the exiles at bay, though Duda twice threatened showing that he has gained significant strength in his couple of years away from the club. Defences held sway for the entire first half until right on the whistle the home side landed a penalty from out in front for Cornish not rolling away at a ruck, 3-0 to the good at the break.
Cornish made a change at the break, Brading on for Mark Osei-Tutu at 8. Andover will have been frustrated that their restart did not make the distance, and shortly afterwards Carew-Gibbs won a penalty after A’s were pinged for holding, Allison launching his kick on the wind from some distance out. A further Cornish penalty flew narrowly wide on 48 before Allison found his range again on 52 to give his side a 6-3 lead. Back came Andover, and their kicker levelled it up from point blank range on 58. Gradually, Cornish began to take control of territory driven on by sensible options taken by the half-back pairing of Atkin and Phil Dale, Brading, Somers and Matt Johnson making the hard yards. On 61 Atkin took a quick tap just inside the Andover half, his offload launching Somers on a rampaging run to the shadow of the posts, and as the ball was recycled Cornish chipped in behind for wing Tom Jeffery to dive on at the same time as a desperate defender. It would have been impossible for the referee to award a try in the melee, but the alarm bells were beginning to ring for home supporters. Within 2 minutes, their worst fears were realised when an Atkins bomb saw the home wing and full back make a horlicks of fielding the ball, Jeffery on hand to pluck it out of the air as it bounced, break the first tackle and slide over for an unconverted try, Cornish now 11-6 to the good. Andover responded well to the set back, winning a penalty slotted by their kicker on 69. However, the force was with the visitors now, and on 74 minutes the best passage of play of the match saw Dale hit Jeffery on the slice, him powering over the gainline, before offloading to Donnelly in support. With Tom Ievers and Brading clearing out, quick ball was worked right to left deep inside the Andover 22 to Duda to bring his speed and strength to bear, crashing over wide left for his 3rd try in 2 games so far this season, this conversion also narrowly wide. Though clearly tiring, the home side tried once more to break the exiles stranglehold, but when they spilt the ball on the visitors 22, Theobald was on it in a flash for Alison to clear. A further Cornish penalty attempt on 78 flew wide, though it would have been tough on the home side not to have gained a bonus point for their part in an enterprising match given the conditions, but when the final whistle went that extra cutting edge possessed by Cornish was what separated the sides.
Though Andover have only won 1 of their league matches to date, they have played many of the sides in the upper part of the league and have not been disgraced in any of them. They have a young team who could learn fast from their reverses, so the challenge for them will be to see if they can progress from this point on.
Head Coach Tom Sincock will take plenty of positives from this win, with a number of his more experienced charges finally having stuck their hands up to take their place in the promotion push as the winter sets in. There are 4 more matches until the Christmas break, all of which present a challenge of one sort or another, so he will want as much ammo as he can muster.