Despite an utterly dominant performance in the tight, London Cornish contrived to lose this match by 2 goals, 3 tries and 2 penalties to 2 penalties, league leaders Gosport & Fareham taking 5 points in the process. The level of the exiles performance was not up to the standard reached in their previous 2 matches, hampered by having to make far too many changes week on week and by a hasty warm up after arriving late at the Hampshire sides coastal Gosport Park HQ.

Cornish were able to call on Skipper Dave Theobald at tight head for this match, George Johnson moving to 7 and Chris Turner to the bench. The real carnage was in the backs, where the 11, 12, 14 and 15 were all unavailable from the previous weeks win due to injury and unavailability. In came Ed Good and Fraser Smeaton on the wings, Luke Spells at inside centre and Tom Dorse on the wing.

On arrival at the ground, the exiles found a strong breeze blowing down the ground towards the sea, and elected to play into it in the opening period. The pitch was bone hard and dusty in parts and is likely to deteriorate badly in the wet winter months. Early Gos pressure resulted in Cornish being pinged for holding on in the tackle, the kick a formality in the visitors 22 and the early lead taken. On 5 minutes Gos worked room wide right for their wing to scoot into the 22 where he was smashed into touch by Good for the danger to be cleared. Hanging on in these opening exchanges, the Gos full back was next to attack, weaving a path through a maze of would be tacklers before a last ditch Dorse effort stopped him in his tracks. Too many of the exiles side had their heads still on the bus, first up tackles missed far too frequently in this opening period. Gos work hard both to strip the ball in the tackle and to get over the ball on the floor when they have made a tackle. With their 9 and back row on the edge of offside the whole time at rucks and mauls, referees have to have their eyes everywhere to keep them honest, and this caused the exiles no end of problem in trying to clear their lines in the wind, particularly since they did not get their guards in place to protect their kickers, 4 charge downs causing havoc in the opening half. On 17 minutes this caused the first score, the ball charged down inside the visiting 22 and a home forward collecting the ball to crash over to the left of the posts. The conversion was good and the score out to 10-0 to the home side. Gradually, Cornish worked their 2 hour trip out of their legs and on 19 won a penalty for the home 9 being caught offside at a scrum. The ball was kicked to the corner but frustratingly the throw in at the attacking lineout was not straight. However, a huge Cornish scrum turned over the Gos put in, and on the reset the exiles worked the ball up to the line but were then apparently held up when over the line. At the third reset, Cornish drove the scrum to the line and as it disintegrated the ball was turned over on the floor and cleared. The home back row spent much of the next few minutes stripping ball from carrying Cornish hands, though Johnson and hooker Will Carew-Gibbs won turnovers back on the floor for the exiles. On 27 Cornish were penalised for holding wide left, the home kicker lifting a good kick on the wind through the posts. Now Cornish changed tactics, a Tom Stock take from a lineout on halfway turning into a huge rolling maul, the ball worked to Graeme Smeaton to burst a tackle in midfield, the Gos backline caught offside and fly half Rich McKeown driving a difficult kick into the wind to put his side on the board at 13-3. Back came Gos, their repeated drives taking them down the right flank only for Carew-Gibbs to again turn them over on the floor for Dorse to clear. Conceding a series of penalties as half time approached, Cornish conceded territory to their hosts until on 39 minutes the home 9 took a quick tap just outside the 22 and sashayed his way through a poor tackle to waltz in under the posts. The conversion was made and Cornish had not managed to hold out sufficiently into the wind. With the last play of the half the home 4 was pinged for coming in from the side at another maul after a driving McEwen run, and McKeown drove an excellent kick from some distance out through the posts for a 20-6 half-time deficit.

Now with the wind at their backs, Cornish began the second period with purpose, and Johnson won a penalty when he caught a Gos forward in possession just inside their half on 42, the penalty well struck but flying wide of the left hand upright. On 45 McEwen again smashed over the gainline and scrum half Tom Jacob found McKeown at his side, the fly half dashing through a gap to be felled a yard from the line. The home 5 simply dived over the top of the ruck to kill the ball and was instantly binned. Cornish elected for the scrum, but were very frustrated when the referee called the ball out when it was at the feet of no 8 McEwen as the pack drove over the line, allowing the Gos back row to toe the ball clear. Within 5 minutes the numbers were levelled up when a Cornish forward was binned for impeding the Gos 9 at a quick tap on half way. Cornish withdrew the tired Mark Osei-Tutu now, him not having slept for 30 hours, Turner on in his stead. On 53, and with the home side having withstood a Cornish onslaught on their line, a box kick down the narrow side bounced wickedly for the Cornish cover and into the hands of the third Gos back following up, him having a simple run across the line to score wide right. The conversion wasn’t made but from being under pressure one minute, the home side were now out to a 25-6 lead. Worse was to follow for the exiles, for within 3 minutes a poor decision to step out of the defensive line cost them dear, quick hands and one ruck later allowing a Gos forward the chance to plunge over the line for the score, again not converted into the strong wind. Cornish replaced Fraser Smeaton with Tom Burns on the right wing now, but the visitors defensive structure had disappeared now, and the home scored their third try in this decisive 5 minute spell when missed first up tackles shepherded Gos in wide out again, this conversion flying wide but the score suddenly 35-6. Cornish brought on Phil Ridsdale for Pete Calvert at lock, and he was quickly in the thick of it, the ball worked left to right on halfway to Graeme Smeaton, who chipped ahead for the Gos full back to scramble the ball into touch on his 22. Stock took the lineout, but Gos impeded him at the lineout, the penalty kicked to 5 yards out. However, miscommunication at the lineout saw the ball fly over its intended recipient for the ball to be kicked clear. Back came the exiles at another lineout, but this time they were penalised for a technical offence at the lineout. With frustration creeping in, the game became fractious and it was no surprise that another Gos player was binned for a punch on 79, though the incident was inconsequential for the final whistle went shortly after.

Clearly highly motivated and in good form, Gosport & Fareham are an improved side this season. While they have an excellent 9, 13 and 15, it is their back row who were the main influence on this match, more than negating the clear advantage the visiting front 5 had in the match and comprehensively outplaying their opponents in the loose. They are presently on a roll and thoroughly deserved their win on the day. Cornish will take few plaudits on the day, plenty of aspects of their game needing improvement. The lead has been taken by the Skipper, cancelling the week off training for his side despite there being no match next weekend. It would also help the side not having to make multiple changes to the squad every week, 33 players having been used so far in 5 league matches and only 4 players ever present.

The final word is for our hosts – despite Cornish arriving late their catering manager had kept a meal for our Committee; when the bus driver asked for directions to a chippie, they simply stumped up another meal, and when the DoR arrived for the post match meal after all had been cleared away, she again provided a sumptuous meal for him. The conduct of their players, coaching team and committee were all in keeping with this generosity and it is these aspects that mark a club out as a class act as much as anything they do on the pitch. We look forward to the return match, whatever the result.