For the second week running, London Cornish won a London 1 South match with the last kick, though this time it capped a compelling and astonishing comeback in a pivotal match towards the bottom of the league, described by hosts HAC on social media as ‘their biggest game of the season’ prior to the match. Behind 24-0 at the break, and by 32-19 with only 3 minutes remaining, Cornish conjured up a grandstand finish to respond in the best possible fashion to the jibes of a few of the home players and spectators as they had headed to the huddle at half-time. The result hoisted the exiles back above HAC in the league, and the manner of it will infuse the Cornish players with tremendous belief in the remaining weeks of the season.
Cornish had made a couple of enforced tweaks to the pack successful the previous week, Jake Slade starting at hooker in place of the concussed Will Carew-Gibbs, Joe Beech in at lock with James La Broy only landing back from a work trip from the US a few hours before the game, and Matt Chambers making a welcome return at 8 to allow Mark Osei-Tutu to move to 6. In the backs, the most notable selection was Skipper Ed Carne as a makeshift 9, AML and Miles Lloyd both away, while Freddie Cruz, Colum Jordan and Dan Phoenix were long term injury casualties. With Dave Funston also injured, the exiles would have to play this crucial game without any of their top 3 points or try scorers this season.
The match was played at HAC’s central London HQ of Armoury House, an historic and normally picturesque venue, though on this occasion a section of the playing area was being dug up and resembled a ploughed field. Though pre match comms suggested a high security presence and limited parking, the reverse was the case, supporters and players rather alarmingly unchallenged as they headed in, and ample parking available. The underground changing rooms are amongst the smallest in the league, but the pitch itself was not as small as reported, and the surface fantastic.
Cornish began playing away from the car park, and quickly found themselves behind in unusual circumstances 5 minutes in. Defending on their own line, the ball squirted to the back of a ruck on the exiles side, and as they hesitated, an HAC player, aware of the law re no offside line in the in goal area, simply put his hand on the ball for the try, converted by the 10. Weathering an early storm of pressure from the home side, Cornish began to gain field position, driven upfield by an impressive performance by Carne. However, too often they knocked on when well placed, or passes were grassed behind the intended recipient, a snatched drop goal attempt flying narrowly wide on 19 minutes the closest they came to troubling the scorers in the opening quarter. A vocal side who celebrate every minimal success, HAC let the exiles know what they thought of their efforts, and the hosts added to their lead on 27 minutes when they slotted a penalty given for a maul offence. Though HAC were under pressure in the tight, and were pinged for feeding on one occasion, they were winning the battle on the gainline with their 2 locks a constant threat, and on 35 minutes they increased their lead. A long Cornish kick was fielded by the home 15, who wriggled free from 3 tacklers on halfway, burst clear on the angle, and 2 passes later saw his team cross half-way in to the posts for a converted try. Cornish withdrew Chambers at this point, Kyle Coulter on in his place, Osei-Tutu reverting to 8. With time almost up on the half, the visitors were twice pinged for not releasing, the second of which saw HAC kick to 5 out down the left flank. They hit their man at the lineout, and as they rolled the maul toward the line, were able to break away and crash over for another converted try right on the whistle. They will have felt good about their 24-0 lead, and had certainly let their visitors know how good they felt!
Only a few voices were needed in the exiles huddle at the break, but the coaching team had noted a few things in the opening period. HAC tend to tackle high, so Cornish could gain plenty of yardage after the initial hit; the hosts did not mark up well down the narrow side after the first phase, often leaving their front V exposed; HAC are a lumpy side carrying plenty of condition across the park, and if the exiles could retain possession their hosts would tire; HAC have had a record of conceding quick tries this season, and if the visitors scored, they could score again quickly. All of these factors were to play a huge part in the 2nd half, Cornish producing a withering riposte to silence those jibes.
An early score would be crucial to give the exiles the belief they could get back in the game and, it was the front row who brought it home. A high tackle was quickly tapped by Carne on 46 minutes, and with hooker Jake Slade driving in low, supported by a bullocking Dave Theobald run, the coup de grace was delivered by Joe Lynch, powering through 2 defenders to plant the ball on the line for a try under the posts (see picture), the score improved by George Kimmins. 3 more changes saw Theobald replaced by Tony Pellow, Dave Chalkley by Chambers, and Jack Skerrit by Ryan Webb. 4 minutes later another high tackle saw HAC lose a man to the bin, and Cornish nudged a kick to the 22 down the right hand side. Coulter claimed the lineout and powered into the 22, supported by Osei-Tutu. With the home d backtracking, Carne hit Kimmins right to left to slice through on the angle, his long cut out pass sending flying full back Chris Wright between 2 defenders, crashing through last ditch tackles and across the line wide left. Whilst the try was not converted, now the deficit was now halved, 28 minutes remaining. Frustratingly, Cornish gifted 3 back to HAC when pinged for holding just outside their 22 on 56 minutes, but a wonderful counter attack on 58 minutes changed the complexion of the match completely. Winning the ball on the floor on their own 22, the visitors hit the blind side. Lynch and Carne combined to send Jamie Owen outside a loitering forward, him drawing the cover and sending an inside ball to Matt Hakes in support. Hakes angled his run to draw the covering wing, then sent Wright away outside him to sprint clear from some way out and dive over under the posts. With Kimmins adding the 2, now the score was 27-19, the sin bin proving very costly for a shell-shocked HAC. When the hosts gained field position on 63 minutes just 5 out from the line, a huge Cornish defensive set led by Chambers and Coulter saw a maul sacked, a knock on forced, and a penalty won at the resultant scrum. Both Osei-Tutu and Coulter took knocks during this action, Theobald and Chalkley back on in their places. On 70 minutes Cornish countered from their 22, but as they chipped over the top, an HAC lock knocked the ball on as he went to catch it. However, judging it as a charge down, the referee waived play on, and with the exiles d all now beyond the ball, it was the simplest task for the home side to draw the full back and send their man over for a try 10 in from the left hand touch. When the conversion slipped wide, few watching would have realised just how crucial a miss that would prove to be! Chambers, Slade and Matanle increasingly made huge yardage with their carries in these closing stages, and Kimmins passing range brought in Hakes, Webb and Wright to make additional gains. Harried and harassed at every turn, HAC continued to give away penalties for high tackles. On 77 minutes Cornish elected to tap and go, an error free passage of 14 phases working the ball via the impressive Moe Alothman into the waiting arms of Chambers hugging the left hand touchline 15 metres out. He had plenty to do with 3 men ahead of him, but he simply powered through the would be tackles, and reached out to plant the ball down for the bonus point try. Where his opposite number had missed with his attempt, Kimmins did not, landing the touchline conversion to reduce the gap to 6, 2 left on the clock. Drawing on their experience of the previous week, where they had gone the length of the pitch to draw the winning penalty v Beckenham, Cornish now aimed to repeat the dose. Carne and Matanle combined again, before Hakes carried to the 22 where HAC once more conceded a penalty. A brief debate followed, and Cornish elected to kick to 10 out down the left hand flank, the HAC support now completely silenced. Slade’s arrow was true, finding his man with unerring accuracy, and once the maul began, there was an air of inevitability about what was to follow, even flyweight wing Webb adding his weight to the back of the juggernaut. Splintering the HAC defence, it advanced at pace, crashing across the line with the referee perfectly positioned to award the score, Matanle the man at the bottom of the pile. Now it came down to the kick. Kimmins had landed that key kick the week before, and in his second match since missing all of the season to date, he again took his side to victory, driving the ball between the posts before a phalanx of desperate HAC players could charge it down. Cue the final whistle and pandemonium!
The post match at Armoury House is well worth the wait. The beer is plentiful, the feed top notch and the décor historic. It must have been a sickening defeat for HAC, but credit to them for sticking around and hosting the awards. It will be interesting to see how quickly they bounce back from this defeat, though expect a few twists and turns yet in the battle at the bottom.
Cornish extended last weeks 10 minutes of decent action to a full half this week, so there remains plenty of room for improvement. It will be needed if they are to extend their winning run, but wins like these can only be character building!