In a complete reversal of recent weeks fortunes, London Cornish pinched a match in which they had been second best for long periods against Beckenham, bringing their 6 match losing streak to a halt in the process in London 1 South at the REMPF on Saturday. In what must have been galling circumstances for the Kent side, the exiles scored 10 unanswered points in the closing 4 minutes to turn a 7-15 deficit into a 17-15 win.
Despite steady and torrential rain in the week, and many local matches being switched to 4g surfaces, the pitch at the REMPF was remarkably playable, testament to the investment in drainage the club has made in recent seasons, and to some great work from the groundsmen. However, it was very tacky in places, the game beginning on cool, sunny winters day.
Cornish began playing away from the clubhouse end, and within 3 minutes they had struck, a chip on half way by the visitors 10 shanked straight into the arms of the onrushing exiles prop Joe Lynch, him tearing up to the 22 before sensibly offloading to the flying Mark Osei-Tutu to complete the job under the posts, returning fly-half George Kimmins giving his side an early 7-0 advantage. Few watching would have guessed that Cornish would not trouble the scoreboard again until 4 minutes from the end of the match. Gaining field position with a penalty on 9 minutes, Beckenham saw their throw go awry for a scrum to the exiles. In what was to become a pivotal aspect of the match, Cornish were comprehensive outplayed in the tight, B’s able to pick up a ball taken against the head and crash over for an unconverted try. With the momentum behind them, Beckenham broke through again to the shadow of the posts a couple of minutes later, only to be pinged for holding on as Chris Wright bravely stood over the ball. A frustrating pattern began to emerge between 2 sides short of confidence, with Cornish conceding possession and territory at every scrum, and B’s finding ways of handing back possession, either by losing lineouts or kicking away good ball, the exiles back 3 of Matt Hakes, Jamie Owen and Chris Wright all cleaning up plenty of kicks. On 28 minutes, Will Carew-Gibbs won a penalty for holding, and when Cornish kicked to halfway, Sam Matanle claimed the lineout. This precipitated a rolling maul, and when AML hit Kimmins, his pass was slapped down for a penalty, though the effort slid to the left of the posts. The ugly pattern continued throughout the half, both sides unable to piece together regular phases of play on the sticky pitch, the exiles seeing little possession from set plays as, on a day of around 20 scrums, they were unusually a long second best. The final act of the half saw Beckenham win a scrum, knock on at the base, then win the ball against the head to kick the ball out on the full. The referee put everyone out of their misery by signalling for half-time.
Cornish made a change at the break, Dave Theobald withdrawn and Jake Slade on at loosehead, Lynch switching to the tight. This change had no immediate positive effect, the home side losing the lead to a scrum penalty awarded on 46 minutes. A further exiles change now saw Dave Chalkley on for Tony Pellow, Carew-Gibbs moving to hooker. On 55 minutes Cornish launched a promising attack involving the in form Wright, who combined with Dave Funston down the left flank. Much to the exiles frustration, they were pinged for an illegal fend as they drove deep into Beckenham territory. This penalty precipitated a 5 minute spell inside the Cornish 22 and, having elected for a scrum from a penalty, the visitors were able to drive a man over under the posts, the conversion seeing them out to a 15-7 lead. With the exiles unable to command any quality ball in the tight, it seemed the game was up, though another miscued chip was intercepted and returned with interest by Owen on 63 minutes, the opportunity lost with a knock on. 2 further changes saw Funston replaced by Moe Alothman, and Kyle Coulter withdrawn for Theobald to reappear, allowing Slade to move to hooker, La Broy into the 2nd row, and Carew-Gibbs to the back row. With time remaining slipping towards single digits, Beckenham still maintained territorial domination. Twice they were seduced by the power of their pack into eschewing kickable penalties in favour of 5 metre scrums. Twice a reinforced Cornish pack held firm, finally finding the combination able to match their visitors, and twice when the Kent side went wide they were denied by organised defence. On 74 minutes, Cornish forced a scrum inside their own 22, and this time the ball was made available to the backline. Starved of quality possession to this point, now Ed Carne, Alothman, Hakes and Wright attacked with verve, taking play to the visitors 22 left hand side. Though the final pass flew into touch, Beckenham dropped the ball on exit, and Carne sent them spinning back to 5 out with a deft chip. As the Kent side went to protect the ball, a combination of the flying Wright and Alothman won a penalty for holding. AML took a quick tap and fed Carew-Gibbs, who spun through a tackle and dived low and hard over the line for the try (pictured), really out of nowhere. Kimmins converted, and it was game on with 3 left! Winning another penalty inside their 22 at the restart, Cornish now launched a 16 phase attack, ball retention and lines like nothing that had followed before, Carew-Gibbs joined in the close quarter combat by Slade, La Broy, Osei-Tutu, Kimmins and Carne, with AML directing the traffic this way and that to test a tiring d. Finally, as they approached the Beckenham 22 centre field, the visitors were pinged for a high tackle. With the referee indicating that there would be time for the restart, Kimmins stepped up and launched his kick between the uprights to give his side back a lead they had scarcely deserved on the balance of play. At the restart, La Broy knocked the ball back into the grateful arms of Slade, who set the ball up to allow AML to feed Kimmins to launch the ball into touch, Cornish the most unlikely of victors.
It is difficult to fathom how Beckenham have only won one match this season, given their 2 performances against Cornish. They have a strong pack, a combative back line and a decent kicker, and they really were the better side on this day. As galling as the defeat may have been, they still came back for the post match festivities, and their supporters were also a credit to the club. We wish them well and hope they continue to carry the fight they showed on this day.
Cornish are very rarely bested up front in the manner they were on this occasion, and it took the best part of 70 minutes to work it out. When they did, they demonstrated that they have tremendous spirit in the camp (witness the phalanx of injured players on the touchline who came along to support) and, with a decent supply of ball, a potent backline is shaping up. Lets just hope they don’t have to use their ‘get out of jail’ card again any time soon!