A spirited and strong all round performance by London Cornish nearly produced a shock at the Goddington Dene HQ of London 1 South league leaders Westcombe Park on Saturday. Leading until 4 minutes from time, the exiles could not hold on as 2 yellow cards saw them play much of the last quarter of the match with 14, and then 13 men, the concession of 3 tries in the closing 7 minutes depriving the visitors of even a losing bonus point. It would not take much tweaking for the side to turn these performances into positive results, despite the fact that this one saw them slip back into the bottom 3.
Cornish arrived in Kent with 3 players being given debuts, Kiwi lock Joe Beech having joined from Stirling County in the Scots Prem, former Launceston and Cornwall lock Duncan Hale on the bench, and club stalwart Pete Boele also on the bench as front row replacement. A well balanced back line took to the field on a claggy pitch on a bright, sunny day.
In an inauspicious opening for the visitors, their first clearance kick was charged down on 2 minutes, and whilst they did manage to clear their lines, it was at the cost of a penalty, slotted by the home kicker whose radar went badly missing from this point on. Dan Phoenix, restored to 10 for this match, levelled things up on 8 minutes when Park were caught with hands in the till on the 15 metre line. A pattern began to emerge with the home finding an inpenetrable wall in front of them, unable to move the exiles scrum and not enjoying any dominance in the lineouts. With Will Carew-Gibbs and Sam Matanle a constant nuisance on the floor, Park began to concede penalties, and Phoenix gave his side the lead on 16 minutes when Park were pinged for not rolling away. Kyle Coulter, enjoying the return to one of his former clubs, claimed the restart, and then won a penalty as the league leaders repeated their previous transgression, but the ball was lost in midfield as both defences remained on top. On 25 minutes Park attacked through their centres, and as he went to meet his opposite number Sam Vaughan got his head in the wrong place, the match stopped for him to be treated. A 14 phase Park assault followed deep inside the exiles 22 but, with Beech, Carew-Gibbs, Matanle and Coulter tackling so well, the home side could not make the possession pay, a knock on forced and line cleared. On the half hour mark, Westcombe won a kickable penalty of their own, but the effort was pulled left. At this point it was clear Vaughan could not continue, Jack Skerritt on in his place, Dave Funston moving to 12. Twice Cornish held up their hosts when they attacked in their half before, with only a few minutes left on the half, the exiles struck. Phoenix launched a chip up the right hand side just on halfway, and returning wing Jamie Owen was quickest to react, him pouching the ball then deftly flicking an inside pass to his Skipper, Ed Carne racing onto the pass and angling his run away from the cover to plant the ball down for a well crafted try, Phoenix adding a great conversion. There was time for Park to respond, them winning another kickable penalty but again missing to the left, Cornish good value for their 13-3 half-time lead.
Where there had been parity in the tight in the opening half, at the start of the second period tight-head Dave Theobald had begun to dominate his opposite number, winning the first of a few penalties at the opening scrum of the half. On 44 minutes, an Andy Munro-Lott snipe took play into the Kent sides half, and though the home side called for and received his pass, they were pinged for crossing as they exited, though this penalty attempt was missed. An AML chip in behind on 46 minutes saw Matanle into space, but as he went to gather, he lost the ball with the line at his mercy and Matt Hakes free outside him! Back came the league leaders, helped by the concession of a couple of penalties to give them field position. However, just as Cornish rolled a maul out of their 22 to clear their lines, one of their number was involved in a fracas with a home player, him consigned to the bin. Galvanised by their extra man, Park attacked with renewed vigour, but kicked dead when well placed on 59 minutes. Cornish had an opportunity to extend their lead on the hour mark, but the long range effort died on the breeze and fell short. When Funston and Skerritt held up a Park centre on the hour mark to force a turnover, you could sense the frustration growing for the home side. In a key moment on 67 minutes Cornish lost another man to the bin for a high tackle, this time in the back line meaning 3 minutes playing with 13 men. 2 minutes later and the exiles paid the price, Park pounding the line and the visitors simply running out of defenders, but again the kick was missed, the visitors still 5 to the good, Coulter replaced by Hale and his team back up to 14. Sensing their moment, the Kent side again targeted the back line, their full back joining the line to send a centre away for a try close to the posts, though this too was not improved, the scores all square at 13 each, Boele on for his debut in place of Tony Pellow. Driven on by a great carrying performance from James La Broy, well supported by Theobald, Carew-Gibbs and Matanle, the Cornish forwards took the game back to their hosts, winning a penalty wide left, well converted by Phoenix to give his side back the lead with 4 minutes remaining and the referee indicating one more play before the exiles numbers would be restored. Crucially, Park won the restart and kept the ball alive, taking play from one side of the pitch to the other probing for the gap, and when it came being good enough to execute, diving over for a try their kicker managed to improve, giving them a lead with time nearly up at 20-16, the exiles numbers now restored. Cornish won a scrum at the restart inside their own half, and with the referee indicating last play, a poorly executed chip landed squarely in the hands of the onrushing Park full back, him stepping his way through to the 22, and two offloads sending the home team and crowd into ecstasy as they scored by the posts, the visitors literally kicking away their bonus point as the home side landed theirs. The conversion was also amazingly missed, but Westcombe Park side had landed 17 points in a crazy final 7 or so minutes, snatching a bonus point win from the jaws of defeat.
Westcombe Park are clearly top of the league for a reason, and the belief wins like this will give them sets them up for an exciting run in. It’s likely to come down to their matches against their fellow promotion contenders, but this match demonstrated that you cannot overlook any of the remaining opponents as every club can field a competitive side on their day in London 1 South.
When the emotion of losing in such a galling way had eased away, Cornish could reflect on a strong showing, the like of which they will need to repeat in the remaining 11 matches of the season. A little more discipline in those closing minutes, and the addition/return of a couple more of their point scoring line breakers will also aid the cause. There are no dull moments at LCRFC!