Few could argue that Wimbledon didn’t deserve their comprehensive victory at Barham Road on Saturday, but they are not a side who win with grace and nor did they endear themselves to the exiles off the pitch on this day. With both the exiles 1s and 2s playing away in this very local derby, was it really necessary to host 4 matches and ask your neighbours to share 1 changing room and 4 serviceable showers in an unsecured cricket pavilion? What followed on the pitch simply backed up the widely held belief that Wimbledon are a side with real issues with discipline, and one or two of their players are red cards waiting to happen.

A clear, sunny but cold day greeted the exiles, who played into the sun and up the hill in the opening half. George Johnson returned at hooker and in the absence of Tom Stock, Dave Hill was given a start at lock. Out wide, there were returns for Ian Keith and Graeme Smeaton at centre, but the exiles still ended the year with an extensive injury list, former Skipper James Turnbull recalled on the bench for the first time this season. Wimbledon attacked from the off, and would have been encouraged by a lack of tackling from their visitors. An early burst saw a missed tackle almost allow one of their number a free run in under the posts, but sharp thinking by scrum half Tom Jacob saw the ball stripped in the act of trying to put the ball down. It didn’t take long for the home side to put this right, their 6 crashing across the line down the left flank for an unconverted try. Despite a torrid opening 10, Cornish hung on and eventually made it into Dons territory, where they won a kickable penalty following a surge from Johnson, though the mishit effort fell short. Within a minute, the Wimbledon midfield was unable to stay onside, gifting another pen just outside their 22, but this too was missed. A familiar pattern began to emerge for the exiles, lineouts malfunctioning consistently but the scrummage utterly dominant. On 14 Mark Osei-Tutu hit space down the right wing, but as he hit the deck the ball was turned over and Cornish seemed to freeze as the home backs swept upfield virtually unchallenged for another unconverted try. Though conceding penalties with alarming frequency, Wimbledon were winning the battle of the breakdown all too easily despite the hard work of the departing exiles no 8 Andrew McEwen. When Cornish did make it into the Dons 22, they were pinged for holding and unable to build phases of play. On 25, the home side won a penalty and kicked it to the corner, but their hookers throw was awry and the ball was cleared. At some stage in this section, the Dons no 11 became embroiled in an argument with some supporters on the sidelines, and it is to be hoped that his grammar soon extends beyond the letter c. On 28 the lad scored wide right, and his celebration required intervention from the referee, the player unable to convert his own try but the lead out to 15-0. With Osei-Tutu stemming the flow by turning over the Dons ball on the floor, Cornish did begin to gain decent field position, but fly half John Barker received a smack to the nose and was helped from the pitch bleeding shortly before the break, Phil Francis on at 13 and Smeaton moving to 10. With time running out, Wimbledon were again pinged on 36 for holding and when Smeaton kicked in behind right to left into the home 22, the full back scrambled the ball into touch. To intense frustration, the key lineout was again cleanly lost, the home side expert at closing the gap between the lines and reducing the chances of a clean take. On 38 minutes at a ruck on halfway, the Wimbledon 12 produced a cowardly and dangerous act of violence when, long after the ball had gone, he crocodile twisted the prone Stefan Duda’s right leg, the referee catching the second part of the assault, a stamp aimed at the Bude man’s knee. A yellow card followed, though a red would surely have been issued if the referee had seen the full act. Duda could not continue after the break, Francis on permanently as Barker returned at 10.

A dreadful opening to the second half saw Cornish concede within 60 seconds of the restart, no one seeming to want to really put their bodies on the line to halt the tide and this try converted. Two minutes later and it was the Wimbledon tight head who was lucky not to see red, his headbut not connecting fully with the intended target but enough for him to take 10 minutes to contemplate how he might prevent the exiles from continuing to dominate the one facet of the match on which they could rely. In the next stage of play, Cornish lost their other wing when Robin Heymann badly dislocated a finger, Osei-Tutu moving into the backs, Phil Ridsdale into the row and Hill to the back row. On 48 minutes following an exiles attack, the home hooker got cramp but after a delay was able to continue. Cornish were unable to make full use of the 2 man advantage, gaining field position but suffocated by strong Wimbledon defence, them barely missing a tackle all afternoon. Back up to 15, the home side can barely have believed their luck when 2 really poor missed tackles shepherded the hitherto injured Dons hooker down the left wing to flop across the line wide left, the kick again wide. The home side very nearly added to their score again 5 minutes later but a superb defensive steal on the floor by Osei-Tutu rescued the situation. On 65 minutes a Dons grubber kick bounced like only a rugby ball can over the try line, missed by an exiles covering defender and pounded on by an onrushing home forward for another converted try. Despite sporadic runs from full back Nick Harlock and snipes by Jacob, Cornish had hardly featured in an offensive manner until the 65th minute when a great attack saw Harlock link with Johnson to power into the home 22 and offload to Osei-Tutu, but the latter was tackled into touch at the corner flag for the ball to be cleared. Turnbull came on for Bond at this point, him likely to enjoy the front row dominance with Skipper Dave Theobald and Johnson at hooker. Now Cornish began to drive Wimbledon clean off their own ball in the tight and on 73 minutes a McEwen driving run was supported by Chris Turner but knocked on with the line at mercy. At the following 5 metre scrum, Johnson took another against the head and McEwen powered over the line for his 20th and final try in Cornish colours for at least a year, this try in his 30th match. Though the score was unconverted, Cornish were at least finishing the game the stronger, Dons again demonstrating that a lack of discipline is endemic across their squad as their 10 was now binned for repeated offences. Try as they might in the final minutes, Cornish could not add to their solitary effort and the home side could be well satisfied with the scoreline, if not the behaviour of some of their players.

Wimbledon will find that they need to conquer their inner demons if they are to take the next step up, for better sides than Cornish were on this day will take full advantage of the number of players the hosts lose to the bin (8 in the last 3 league matches for example). Cornish head into the break hoping to see some of their key players returning in the opening matches of 2012. Your correspondent will be absent for the first of those matches, but normal service will resume from Jan 14th!