An understandably disjointed performance by London Cornish saw the home side land the required 30-15 bonus point win against bottom placed side Maidstone in London 1 South on Saturday. The importance of the bonus point win only became clear after the final whistle, when results elsewhere saw the London 2 South-West Champions close to within 2 points of the 3rd and 4th placed teams after 10 rounds of the London 1 South competition.
Cornish made a series of changes to the squad successful at Chichester the previous week, in coming Jamie Robert-Tissot, Chris Anstey and Eliott Cave in the pack, and Andy Hill in the backs. This rejig also saw Nick Goss revert to his occasional role at hooker, with Tim Homan unavailable and Jake Slade not risked after taking a heavy knock in training. Cornish have yet to field their giant first choice pack this season, but the way players are being eased back into action and rested for this game suggests that time is not too far away! Heavy rain through the night and into the morning had left the pitch very heavy in patches, which in previous seasons would have seen the 1s pitch at the REMPF unplayable.
The form of the 2 teams could not have been in much greater contrast, Cornish seeking their 7th win in 8 games, while Maidstone were aiming to avoid their 9th straight loss since their opening day win. The programme notes made mention of the fact that the Kent side have rarely been thumped in those defeats, and this defeat added another to the column of narrow losses. Cornish kicked off playing towards the clubhouse, and were on the board inside 10 minutes when a Toby Fletcher juggle just inside the visitors half seemed to confuse the visitors d, and when the ball reached full back David Smith, he turned up the wick to gas outside and cross wide left for an unconverted try. 5 minutes later and Cornish had their second, Maidstone simply not getting to grips with Chris Kolapo-Ajala on half-way, the big wing shaking off tackles before sprinting away to cross half way in from the right touchline, Skipper George Kimmins adding the 2. You might have expected the floodgates to open at this point, but the mix of new combinations and a couple of injuries made it heavy going for Cornish. Fletcher took a knock to his knee and had to replaced by first Matt Hakes, and then Dan Phoenix, the latter having arrived late having been delayed at work. With scrum-half Rich Stephens also labouring with a twisted ankle, the usual fluency to the exiles game was missing, and both sides knocked on plenty of ball in the cold, wet conditions. Maidstone landed a penalty on 26 minutes, and despite finding their pack under pressure in the tight, they tackled like dervishes to prevent further score until 2 minutes before half-time when Kimmins added a penalty from out in front. Right on half-time, Anstey was knocked out cold in a tackle, and when he came round we couldn't tell if he had lapsed into estuary English or was talking rubbish - either way, his day was finished and the versatile Hakes came back on at 6, the teams turning round with the exiles 15-3 to the good.
2 minutes into the 2nd half, Kimmins drove another penalty between the timbers to give his side a 15 point lead, but this seemed to inspire Maidstone who now had their best period of the match. They repeatedly hammered away one or two passes out from each ruck, but each time they went wide passes hit the deck or were knocked on when in good position. Finally, on 54 minutes they fashioned room for one of their forwards to crash across the line, but he was magnificently held up by a combination of Tom Ievers and the brave Stephens. The respite didnt last long though, a missmove in midfield seeing the visitors 12 waltz under the posts virtually untouched for a deserved converted score on 56, the score now 18-10 to Cornish. This score finally seemed to awaken the home side from their 2nd half slumber, and the tempo was now noticeably upped, both locks Harry Somers and James La Broy involved in a series of driving carries up the pitch. Kimmins sent the ever dangerous Dave Funston through a gap on the angle, and he drew a man before sending Smith away for his second try, this one in Terry's Corner. Kimmins lifted a tremendous conversion between the posts and with the win likely secured at 25-10 with 18 left, the remaining question was could Cornish land the bonus? The error-strewn nature of the match continued, and this hampered the exiles attempts to gain momentum, called back for forward passes here, and knocking on when hitting the deck there. This continued right up until around 5 from time, when Funston again made the incision, and was downed a few feet from the line in Terry's Corner. Kolapo-Ajala was the first man on the scene, and in true poacher style, he snaffled the ball, and twisted through a tackle to plant the ball down for his second and his teams vital 4th try (pictured), to the jubilation of him and his team mates. The conversion attempt slammed into the left hand upright and down just the wrong side, and there was just time for Maidstone to grab a consolation with the last play when they rolled a maul over wide right for an unconverted try. Cornish had got the job done, though this match really did have a feeling of 'after the lord mayors show'.
Maidstone came with decent a good humoured support, and you can see that the lack of wins is having a detrimental affect on the confidence of their team, who cannot be faulted for effort or endeavour. It would be interesting to see what would happen if they could win a couple of games on a trot, because you suspect theirs is no lost cause.
Cornish will take the win, knowing they will need to play far better in their future matches. They should be able to flex the muscles of their large squad in the run up to Xmas, and there will be no break this time in the off week!