A determined defensive effort underpinned a vital win for London Cornish at the REMPF on Saturday, as they shut out Brighton Blues in the 2nd half to move back above them into 5th place in London 1 South after 8 rounds of the competition, a great response to the previous weeks mauling. The home side can also point to the fact that they were far more clinical than the visitors from Sussex, landing points on almost all the occasions they visited the oppo 22 in stark contrast to the Blues, who became fixated on either rolling or shoving Cornish over their line, turning down a series of kickable penalties in the process.
The exiles made a series of changes to their side from the previous week, bringing in Jamie Robert-Tissot, and brothers Ben and Tom Ievers in the pack, and Joe Donnelly and Dan Phoenix at centre. Brighton arrived on the back of a 4 match unbeaten run, and all the portents were for a close match. Cornish had not read the script and began like a steam train. On 3 minutes, full back David Smith linked with the rapid Chris Kolapo-Ajala in midfield, him breaking through before sending fellow wing Andy Hill away to fend off the last 2 defenders and crash across the line wide left, the score well converted by Skipper George Kimmins. 3 minutes later, man of the match Tom Ievers made the break, before returning the complement to Kolapo-Ajala, who stood up his opposite man to dive over for an unconverted try. The shell-shocked visitors took 10 minutes to respond, and their mood wasn’t improved when they were shoved clean off their own put in at a 5 metre scrum in the exiles 22, but they quickly recovered, and when they did it was for a maximum, working room to send their full-back over for a converted try on 16 minutes. The Sussex side rely heavily on their rolling maul and a pivot wrap off their 12, and though they had initial success with the latter, they got no change from the former throughout the match, a key factor as the game progressed. On the half-hour mark, Rich Stephens and Harry Somers combined to catch the visitors offside, Kimmins landing the penalty to stretch the lead back out to 8. The battle in the tight was both fascinating and confusing, both sides ignoring the new laws to try and muscle their oppo off the ball rather than striking for it, and both had some success. The lineouts were also well contested, Ben Ievers managing to snaffle Blues throw-ins on 4 separate occasions during the match, but the visitors also enjoying some success on Cornish ball. The upshot was that something of an arm wrestle developed in the remaining minutes of the first half, the London 2 South-West Champs satisfied to turn around 15-7 to the good.
Brighton won a kickable penalty a few minutes after the restart, but their kicker slid the ball to the right of the posts, which turned out to be a key moment in the game. A Stephens grubber was fielded by the diminutive (but rapid!) Brighton wing on 47, him scrambling the ball into touch on the 22, under pressure from Smith and Kolapo-Ajala. James La Broy claimed the lineout, and Cornish proceeded to demonstrate how a rolling maul should be managed, driving the visitors inexorably back until hooker Jake Slade was able to drop down for the vital score (see picture). The try was not converted but the exiles lead was now 13. The exiles now had to contend with a concerted period of pressure from Brighton, and coupled with the concession of a series of penalties, the home side simply couldn’t relieve the pressure. Finally, they lost a man to the bin on 55 minutes when he found himself on the wrong side of a ruck. Now down to 14, a herculean effort at the following scrum saw Cornish win the ball back to clear, but the respite was only temporary. Phoenix took a knock to be replaced by Tom Jeffery, Hill moving to centre to accommodate the giant winger; when the sin-bin was complete Nick Goss came on for Claude Springer, who was struggling with a twisted knee. For a short period, Cornish also lost Slade to have an HIA, but he returned with the all clear, before Oli Low came back on to replace Dave Theobald up front. All the while, Brighton hammered away in the home 22, trying to set mauls going, running plays around their 12, or simply trying to man handle Cornish over their line. To the visitors huge frustration, they began to concede penalties in the tight deep inside the home 22, once for delaying the pick up and another for boring in. This appeared too much for one of their supporters, who had repeatedly called for penalty tries for pretty much any offence, and who had long since given up on the concept that the referee is always right, even when he is wrong!! Though all of the team deserve credit for manning the barricades so well, this period belonged to Somers, Tom Ievers and Joe Donnelly, the latter packing down at 6 for a period and producing a monster tackle on the visiting 9, who was not quite the same player afterward. Finally, Cornish cleared their lines, and when a rampaging Jeffery drove play into the Blues half, and then Kimmins, Kolapo-Ajala and Donnelly took play to the 22, Brighton were caught offside for Kimmins to lift his kick between the uprights to take his side out to a 23-7 lead. With the game now up, it was just a question of whether Cornish could claim the bonus point try, but just as they appeared to have a chance with the final play, they turned the ball over and Brighton sent their left wing away. He is quick, but Kolapo-Ajala was quicker, tracking his man down until he reached him at the tryline, his upper body strength enough to turn the lad on his back and force the ball loose before it could be grounded, a fantastic tackle in keeping with the defence his side had put up for much of the 2nd half. The referee was on the spot to blow the final whistle on the match, Cornish victors by 16 points.
Brighton have clearly continued the form that took them away from the relegation spots last season, and look a rugged and determined outfit, with plenty of ammo across the park. They are a credit to their club off the pitch too, and whatever the results, we look forward to the return in February as this was an even game that could have gone either way.
There was a marked difference in physicality and tackling between the Cornish that played against Medway, and the one that fronted up here. This was exactly the response that was required to that defeat, and there will be no resting on laurels this time in this history-making season for LCRFC!