When London Cornish Club President Mike Herring slipped off a ladder and broke his arm on the morning of this match day, he probably was not aware of just how much in solidarity he would be with his clubs’ players. An alarming injury list has spiked in the last week, with 7 players added to it following back to back matches on synthetic surfaces, and on this occasion the exiles had used up all 3 of their replacements in the opening 35 minutes. Perhaps not so surprising then that a Cornish side, already weakened in the back line, produced a thoroughly disjointed performance here, against a KCS Old Boys side who needed no second invitation, taking sweet revenge for their early season reversal to comprehensively win this London 1 South encounter.
Cornish opened playing towards the clubhouse end of the Rosslyn Park 4g. In the opening attack of the match, prop Mark O’Leary ripped a hamstring and had to be replaced by Dave Theobald, Kings landing a penalty for a high tackle 3 minutes in. On 6 minutes and with the exiles on the attack, a pass hit the turf in midfield, and whilst perpetrators were slow to react, the Kings centre was not, three times fly hacking down the pitch to gather the ball and dive over for a try improved by his colleague. A stunned Cornish had not fully recovered when the visitors were back on the attack, poor tackling seeing the Surrey side work room wide right to send their right wing walking over for an unconverted try.
Cam Crozier lead the response, his run supported by Tony Pellow seeing the home side win a penalty, landed by Dan Phoenix from just outside the 22, 14 on the clock. 5 minutes later and Cornish were right back in the match. Mark Osei-Tutu is in fine form, and here he broke from a scrum on halfway, and linked with another man in great form, Andy Munro-Lott. The effervescent scrum half was downed 2 out, but Dave Chalkley was on hand to drive over, though the conversion flew wide, the score now 15-8 to KCS. Suddenly, having been under pressure in the opening couple of scrums, Cornish became utterly dominant in the tight, utterly destroying one Kings put in on half way, when a line out error saw the subsequent advantage lost, and then taking a clean strike against the head only to send a kick out on the full. On 28 minutes Kings broke into the Cornish half, and as Crozier sought to drag down the ball carrier, his ankle folded underneath him, broken and dislocated. The referee, who really did have a fine game, spotted the incident immediately and called a halt to proceedings. Will Carew-Gibbs came on for his stricken team mate, and was so nearly on the score sheet with his first touch on 35 minutes, another AML snipe breaking clean through, and WCG in support only for him to offload in response to a shout from a Kings player with the line at his mercy. This passage of play saw Chalkley concussed, him replaced by the third 1st team centurion on the bench in the form of Pete Calvert. There was time for one more AML break taking play to 5 out, but the ball was lost forward a phase later, the whistle sounding for half-time with visitors 7 points ahead.
Two things happened around the 45 minute mark; a ball was lost in the netting by the road, which forced your correspondent to retrieve it; a Cornish kick in behind bounced directly backwards beyond the reach of the onrushing exiles, and sending Kings away to execute a 3 on 1 for a converted try to take them 14 points clear. The home side had to respond quickly or the game would be beyond them, and when Eji Erhirhie produced an angled run into midfield to win a penalty bang in front, it appeared they had the means, but the kick was unusually shanked wide. Undeterred, and spurred on by a fine performance by replacement Carew-Gibbs who broke from a maul to the foot of the posts, Cornish responded, the ball worked to Osei-Tutu to gain the try his performance deserved (pictured), 22-13 the score now to the visitors. On 52 and 56 minutes Cornish lost the ball when well placed, once when a maul was held up and on the second occasion when knocking on inside the Kings 22. This profligacy was punished on the hour mark when the Surrey side drove over for an unconverted try wide left. Though Adam Wheeler produced a series of fine tackles to stem the tide, a searing run on 67 minutes had the home side back pedalling, and though a superb cover tackle downed the ball carrier 2 out, Kings managed to break through half way to the posts, this one improved, the score now an unassailable 34-13 to the visitors. The last 10 minutes saw Cornish gain possession and territory, helped in part by KCS losing their discipline and conceding a series of penalties. On 72 minutes a combination of Matt Hakes and Carew-Gibbs took play to the visitors 22, but the ball was lost forward in the last pass. With Calvert and La Broy making yards with their barrelling runs, Cornish sniffed the chance of a try bonus point. However, Kings held out until the 78th minute, when a Cornish maul drove the visitors back into their 22, and Carew-Gibbs broke from the back to scoot over untouched. A hasty missed drop goal conversion attempt at least allowed for one more play but, though this was won by the exiles, the effort foundered on half-way, the game lost.
KCS will have enjoyed this moment, and certainly played far more as a team than their hosts. They have decent backs, and will continue to pose a threat for all sides in the league if they can field a pack to provide the necessary ball. Decent relationships continue to be enjoyed by the 2 clubs, and the post match festivities added to these. Who knows where the 2 clubs will be next season, but we hope it will be in the same league.
Cornish end the year in need of improvement. There are reasons to be optimistic for the New Year, not least due to the impending return of George Kimmins, Skipper, Fly Half and top points scorer for the last 3 seasons. Injured in the close season, and following an operation, Kimmins has missed the entire season so far, but is back in full training and will make his comeback in January. He will be needed…