London Cornish rounded off their inaugural season at Level 6 with a hefty defeat at the hands of promotion seeking Havant at Hooks Lane on Saturday. They went down by 9 tries to 4 after falling away in the final quarter of the match, so often the period in which teams with something to play for put away teams who do not. It would be harsh to be overly critical of the exiles for this performance, for in many respects there was much about which to be encouraged by the way in which they competed with a scratch squad where the spine of the side had never actually played together until this match.
On a firm surface in front of the largest attendance the exiles have seen this season, Cornish opened playing from right to left in front of the packed stand. Winning the ball against the head at the opening scrum, it did not take long for the visitors to suggest they would not roll over. On 5 minutes, left wing Tom Jeffery, who continues to demonstrate what a dangerous runner he is, latched on to a cut-out pass from Sam Vaughan inside his half, before he was downed inside the Havant 22, lock Harry Somers in marauding support, and quick ball giving right wing Matt Hakes the chance to skip past his opposite number and touch down for an unconverted try. It took 7 minutes for the home side to respond, their 13 breaking clean through and over under the posts for a converted try. Havant didn’t deal with the restart, and it landed in the arms of James La Broy. The Cornish lock is finishing the season in great try scoring form, and here he broke free from a tackle and dragged a few of the home d with him to plunge across the line for the 2nd try, also unconverted. Cornish were rampant for a period now, blind side Nick Goss twice involved on 16 before linking with George Kimmins and Hakes only for the exiles to be called back for a forward pass. Another Jeffery break on 22 saw a scrambled Havant clearance reach the 22, and when the home side were pinged for an offence at the back of the lineout, Sam Williams stepped up to lift the penalty through the posts for a 13-7 lead to Cornish. Havant lost a man to the bin at the next play, their hooker penalised for using a forearm, but when the home side slapped a lineout back, the exiles d stood and watched as the home wing sluiced his way through before drawing the final man and sending one of his forwards over for a try, converted to give the Hampshire side the lead at 14-13. Another restart, another La Broy steal, and this time the home side were pinged for not rolling away, Williams giving his side the lead back again with the penalty. On 31, Havant took the lead back when they worked room wide left for one of their locks to pirouette over for a converted score, increased on 34 when their kicker also landed a penalty from out in front, the score now 24-16. Seemingly now in control, Havant were aghast to see a long pass intercepted in his own half by Jeffery, the giant wing having too much gas for the cover, running it in for Williams to reduce the lead to 1 with 4 minutes remaining on the half. Where Cornish had a series of leaders in their side last season, capable of seeing things through to the break in situations such as these when a mere 1 point down away from home, with so many of those key players absent during the season, this incarnation of the exiles do not have that ability, and the conceded a poor penalty and ever poorer converted try in the remaining minutes of the half, instead turning round 34-23 down.
Cornish made a change at the break, withdrawing Vaughan for Joe Donnelly at centre, and it was the exiles who struck first in the 2nd half. La Broy was twice involved down the left flank, before he took a pop pass on an acute angle to score under the posts (pictured) for the bonus point try, Williams reducing the deficit to 4 with the conversion. The 2 teams exchanged penalties on 51 and 55 minutes, in between which Cornish lost full back Alex Gee to an ankle injury as he attempted to dive on a grubber in the in-goal area after Kimmins rolled the ball in behind. Back came Vaughan at full-back this time, and Oli Low also came on now, for Dave Theobald up front. Though continuing to look dangerous with ball in hand, Cornish were now beginning to fall off tackles at an alarming rate, and with came more injuries, Jeffery suffering a cut at one point, and Skipper Kimmins also taking a knock. Havant are too good a side to look a gift horse in the mouth, and ran in 5 tries in the closing stages of the half, a few when Cornish seemed set to score themselves only to turn the ball over in the red zone. With forwards in the back line and most of the lads outside 9 playing out of position, it was no real surprise that the final score was the highest number conceded by the exiles in this, or any other season for some time. We wrote at the start of the season that Cornish expect a few thrashings during this first ever season at this level, but they have only really suffered heavily a couple of times, and those against sides in the top 3.
Havant missed out on the Play-Off spot by a narrow margin for the second season running, but remain entertaining company and will surely start 2018-19 as one of the favourites for the step up. They have a great set up at Hooks Lane, and are a decent benchmark for any side aiming to compete at the top end of this level. We look forwards to seeing how we measure up against them next season!
Cornish end the season in a record high 8th position in London 1 South, a decent first effort at Level 6, but with plenty of room for improvement. For some the close season arrives with a chance for a rest, but not everyone at LCRFC will be taking time out during the summer, for there is work to be done as this game suggests!