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Sat 16 Apr 2016 · London 2 South West
Weybridge Vandals
1st XV
15
37
Tries: T Jeffery, M Hakes, E Atkin, M Osei Tutu (2), C SmartConversions: L Spells (2)Penalties: L Spells
No Tension for Cornish as They Make it 10 Straight!
Dickon Moon17 Apr 2016 - 20:00
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Play Off spot secured with a week to spare.
London Cornish duly delivered the 5 points required to guarantee the play off spot for the second consecutive season in London 2 South-West at Weybridge Vandals Brownacres HQ on Saturday. The 37-15 win was not without its alarms, but the result means Cornish will head to Sevenoaks RFC on April 30th and can rest a few bodies when they host their good friends at KCS OB next weekend. Sadly, the result also spelt the end of Vandals tenure in London 2 South-West, and they are relegated with Basingstoke, all of the relevant issues at the top and bottom of the division now decided with a week to go.
Given the 24 hours of solid rain the area had suffered, both teams would have been happy to see a firm surface and a pitch in good condition on arrival. Cornish played towards the clubhouse end in the opening half and were quickly on the attack forcing Vandals to scramble the ball in touch twice early on. The visitors suffered a real blow on 8 minutes when hooker Will Carew-Gibbs was injured and had to be replaced by Chris Anstey, Cornish having taken no chances by having 3 front row replacements on the bench! On 15 minutes, the promotion hopefuls took a lead they never relinquished when a shanked clearance kick landed in the arms of the giant Tom Jeffery, who waltzed through a series of would be tacklers to score his 18th try of the season under the posts, the recalled Luke Spells adding the extras. Vandals reduced the arrears with a penalty on 20, but were horrified to see the restart bounce into the arms of exiles blind side Matt Hakes. Hugging the left hand touchline, he cleared away from one tackle and rode another to dive over for an unconverted try that might have seen lesser oppo down tools. However, Vandals have shown they are up for a battle all season and now they produced their best spell of rugby in the match before one of their backs was able to step his way over to the right of the posts for a converted try, the arrears down to 2 and a few more supporters appearing from the bar. Cornish butchered a 4 on 1 overlap on 32 when a poor pass hit the deck following a Ben Ievers steal, and then following a Pete Calvert carry supported by Tom Lloyd (him having replaced Oli Low up top), the exiles were frustrated to knock on when deep in Vandals territory. Fly half Chris Smart produced a fine run on 35 before winning a penalty 10 out for not releasing the tackled player. Skip Dave Theobald (pictured) elected for the scrum, and scrummie Ed Atkin angled his run perfectly to snipe his way over for another unconverted try to take the lead out to 7. Vandals were twice foiled in the closing minutes by losing lineouts when in good field position, and on the stroke of half time Mark Osei-Tutu delivered a typically powerful run upfield supported by Tom Ievers, until his side was downed in the shadows of the posts. A flare up followed as Cornish had the advantage, and after the referee had sensibly given everyone time to cool down, Spells bisected the uprights with the penalty to leave the half-time score 20-10 to the exiles.
Cornish would be playing into a freshening breeze in the second half, and had now brought on Mark O’Leary at loosehead, him having returned from a 6 week injury absence. The Vandals kicker has a powerful boot, but it is also wayward and twice in the opening few minutes of the half he kicked dead when attempting to give his side the perfect field position. On 51 minutes he had to chance to reduce the deficit but surprisingly drove his kick to the left of the posts. His 13 was not about to make the same mistake, and his capped a decent performance with a great break on 53 minutes, which culminated in the Vandals right wing diving over for a score that gave his side real hope, the conversion attempt also wide. Cornish have won so many games in the last quarter this season, particularly away from home, and now they upped the ante. On 63 minutes O’Leary pinched a ball on the floor and Atkin sent Joe Donnelly through a gap, with Lloyd in close support. Quick hands from full back Sam Williams sent the ball to Osei-Tutu flying up the right flank, and there was no stopping the powerful back row, who dived over for the critical bonus point try. 3 minutes later, and after Jeffery and Hakes had taken play to the Vandals 22, Atkin and Smart moved the ball quickly to the same player to produce a carbon copy of his score a few minutes earlier in the same spot, and suddenly Cornish could relax having put the game to bed at 30-15. With the dying embers of their tenure in the division visible, the home 13 produced another moment of quality with 10 to go before Hakes brought him down 5 out and won his side a scrum from which the danger was cleared. Theobald, who is a decent hooker himself and whose lineout throwing was excellent once he was given the task, pinched a home lineout on 73 to further frustrate Vandals and you could sense the fight finally leave them at this point. With time almost up, the excellent Atkin sniped his way through a gap on halfway and darted into the 22 before offloading to his half back partner Smart to reach out and plant the ball to the left of the posts for a try converted by Spells.
Basingstoke, Vandals and Andover had become detached from the remainder of the division some time ago, but with Vandals having Stoke as their last game they would have hoped to take more from this match to take the battle down to the last weekend. In the event, this defeat coupled with the Hampshire sides demolition of a curiously out of form KCS side has seen them demoted. They demonstrated in the reverse match that they are a capable outfit, and if they can retain their players will surely look to bounce back at the first attempt – we wish them well next season.
Since Cornish were beaten at KCS on the opening day of the season, they have won 10 straight away from home in the league conceding a total of just 8 tries in the process. It is unfortunate that the issues with the home ground have seen the team trying to play matches on a mudbath for much of the season, but on the evidence of that away record, the exiles will not be in awe of their trip to Sevenoaks.
Given the 24 hours of solid rain the area had suffered, both teams would have been happy to see a firm surface and a pitch in good condition on arrival. Cornish played towards the clubhouse end in the opening half and were quickly on the attack forcing Vandals to scramble the ball in touch twice early on. The visitors suffered a real blow on 8 minutes when hooker Will Carew-Gibbs was injured and had to be replaced by Chris Anstey, Cornish having taken no chances by having 3 front row replacements on the bench! On 15 minutes, the promotion hopefuls took a lead they never relinquished when a shanked clearance kick landed in the arms of the giant Tom Jeffery, who waltzed through a series of would be tacklers to score his 18th try of the season under the posts, the recalled Luke Spells adding the extras. Vandals reduced the arrears with a penalty on 20, but were horrified to see the restart bounce into the arms of exiles blind side Matt Hakes. Hugging the left hand touchline, he cleared away from one tackle and rode another to dive over for an unconverted try that might have seen lesser oppo down tools. However, Vandals have shown they are up for a battle all season and now they produced their best spell of rugby in the match before one of their backs was able to step his way over to the right of the posts for a converted try, the arrears down to 2 and a few more supporters appearing from the bar. Cornish butchered a 4 on 1 overlap on 32 when a poor pass hit the deck following a Ben Ievers steal, and then following a Pete Calvert carry supported by Tom Lloyd (him having replaced Oli Low up top), the exiles were frustrated to knock on when deep in Vandals territory. Fly half Chris Smart produced a fine run on 35 before winning a penalty 10 out for not releasing the tackled player. Skip Dave Theobald (pictured) elected for the scrum, and scrummie Ed Atkin angled his run perfectly to snipe his way over for another unconverted try to take the lead out to 7. Vandals were twice foiled in the closing minutes by losing lineouts when in good field position, and on the stroke of half time Mark Osei-Tutu delivered a typically powerful run upfield supported by Tom Ievers, until his side was downed in the shadows of the posts. A flare up followed as Cornish had the advantage, and after the referee had sensibly given everyone time to cool down, Spells bisected the uprights with the penalty to leave the half-time score 20-10 to the exiles.
Cornish would be playing into a freshening breeze in the second half, and had now brought on Mark O’Leary at loosehead, him having returned from a 6 week injury absence. The Vandals kicker has a powerful boot, but it is also wayward and twice in the opening few minutes of the half he kicked dead when attempting to give his side the perfect field position. On 51 minutes he had to chance to reduce the deficit but surprisingly drove his kick to the left of the posts. His 13 was not about to make the same mistake, and his capped a decent performance with a great break on 53 minutes, which culminated in the Vandals right wing diving over for a score that gave his side real hope, the conversion attempt also wide. Cornish have won so many games in the last quarter this season, particularly away from home, and now they upped the ante. On 63 minutes O’Leary pinched a ball on the floor and Atkin sent Joe Donnelly through a gap, with Lloyd in close support. Quick hands from full back Sam Williams sent the ball to Osei-Tutu flying up the right flank, and there was no stopping the powerful back row, who dived over for the critical bonus point try. 3 minutes later, and after Jeffery and Hakes had taken play to the Vandals 22, Atkin and Smart moved the ball quickly to the same player to produce a carbon copy of his score a few minutes earlier in the same spot, and suddenly Cornish could relax having put the game to bed at 30-15. With the dying embers of their tenure in the division visible, the home 13 produced another moment of quality with 10 to go before Hakes brought him down 5 out and won his side a scrum from which the danger was cleared. Theobald, who is a decent hooker himself and whose lineout throwing was excellent once he was given the task, pinched a home lineout on 73 to further frustrate Vandals and you could sense the fight finally leave them at this point. With time almost up, the excellent Atkin sniped his way through a gap on halfway and darted into the 22 before offloading to his half back partner Smart to reach out and plant the ball to the left of the posts for a try converted by Spells.
Basingstoke, Vandals and Andover had become detached from the remainder of the division some time ago, but with Vandals having Stoke as their last game they would have hoped to take more from this match to take the battle down to the last weekend. In the event, this defeat coupled with the Hampshire sides demolition of a curiously out of form KCS side has seen them demoted. They demonstrated in the reverse match that they are a capable outfit, and if they can retain their players will surely look to bounce back at the first attempt – we wish them well next season.
Since Cornish were beaten at KCS on the opening day of the season, they have won 10 straight away from home in the league conceding a total of just 8 tries in the process. It is unfortunate that the issues with the home ground have seen the team trying to play matches on a mudbath for much of the season, but on the evidence of that away record, the exiles will not be in awe of their trip to Sevenoaks.
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