On a bright, crisp December afternoon on a fine pitch given the ravages of the recent weeks rain fall, London Cornish produced a thoroughly competent all round performance to comfortably see off the challenge of near neighbours KCS Old Boys, a result that lifted the exiles to 8th place in the London 2 South-West table and 9 points clear of their hosts who remain in 11th. Remarkably, given that they were the 41st and 42nd players Cornish have used in the opening 10 league matches, the architects of the victory were the two veteran half backs making their first appearances of the season in former Cornwall county scrum half and Cornish player/coach Tom Sincock, and top points scorer in the past couple of seasons, former Rosslyn Park fly half Rich McKeown. The pair produced a virtuoso display to roll back the years, a surprise to all since they had not even had the opportunity to train together!

Cornish opened their 7th away match of the season playing away from the clubhouse, a fair sprinkling of spectators having made their way over to the pitch for a match with some significance for both teams. The visitors produced their best start of the season, winning a penalty and kicking it to the left hand corner in the opening minutes, and following a series of pick and drives by the pack, Sincock hit McKeown flat just inside the 22 to burst clear of the defence and slide across for a try just to the left of the posts, Luke Spells converting and Cornish ahead 7-0 with just 3 on the clock. KCS had a chance to reduce the arrears shortly after the restart, but their kicker pulled a very central penalty from outside the exiles 22 badly wide. For the next 30 minutes, the hosts did not manage to reach the Cornish 22 once as their visitors dominated possession and territory, and on the few occasions they made the Cornish half, they were turned over by open side Charlie Wapshott on the floor or by centres Dave Warwick and Spells in midfield. On 16 the hosts lost their own open side to injury, and when they missed touch with a clearing penalty a few minutes later, full back Robin Heymann returning in place of the unavailable Nick Harlock, countered with interest. When hooker George Johnson hammered through a gap on a great line, KCS were pinged for going off their feet at the tackle, the exiles again electing to kick to the corner. Johnson hit lock Pete Calvert at the lineout, and the exiles rolled their maul toward the line. When it was halted, prop Mike Bond peeled off blind but was bundled into touch at the corner flag. When KCS tried to run the ball out of defence, they were turned over by the midfield combo of Warwick and Spells, Sincock and McKeown quickly on hand to work the ball right to left across the home 22, before a miss pass put wing Stefan Duda one on one with his opposite number. The Bude flyer has been in decent form this season, and he stepped his man before accelerating away to score wide left, the conversion attempt sliding wide. KCS suffered another injury on the half hour when a loopy hospital pass in midfield saw one of their number smashed in a tackle. The lad looked in a bad way and we wish him well with his recovery. Gradually, aided by the exiles making a few unforced errors when well placed, KCS warmed into the game as an attacking force, but when they attempted to pick and drive their way inside the visitors 22, they found an impenetrable wall in the form of the Cornish back row Max Cantrell, Tim Oakes and the foraging Wapshott. After hammering away for 5 minutes, KCS were finally pinged at a scrum V, and McKeown cleared. The final act of the half saw the home side kick a penalty to 5 out down the left wing, but they were horrified to see their lineout pinched by Ben Ievers, who added insult to injury by powering out of the 22 and away from any danger, the whistle on the break sounding shortly afterward, Cornish 12-0 to the good.

A minute into the second period, Cornish lost a man to the bin, but rather than hamper the visitors, they seemed to up the tempo, Sincock sending wing Phil Francis on a powerful run from half way before he was felled in the 22, but with the engage at scrums something of a lottery, Cornish were penalized and the danger for KCS averted. The warning wasn’t heeded however, and on 45 minutes the same two players combined again down a narrow channel on the right flank, superb handling from Spells this time being the link to send Francis away, him sprinting clear to cross the line and arrow half way in to the posts, giving Spells the chance to extend the lead to 19-0. KCS upped their game now, but when they found their way into the visiting 22, Oakes pinched the ball on the floor, and then Skipper Dave Theobald elicited a penalty from his opposite number at scrum time for the ball to be cleared. When Cornish won a penalty some way out on 52, a long range kick was attempted, but as it fell short the visitors were lax in their follow up and nearly paid the penalty, a home back showing a clean pair of heels to all but Duda, the ball thrown forward in the act of a desperate final offload. Sincock had run his race now, Jeff Power on for his debut at 10 and McKeown moving to scrum half. KCS were back on the attack 5 minutes later, but Wapshott once again turned their ball over for McKeown to clear, though the former had suffered a knock now and, along with Cantrell, was replaced, Tim Homan and Mark Osei-Tutu reinforcing the back row. When the next score came, it was a beauty and it was scored against the run of play by KCS. Winning ball deep in their 22, the home fly chipped the hard pressing exiles midfield down it’s left side and regathered, before slipping the ball outside to his supporting wing. The lad demonstrated hitherto unseen pace to outstrip the Cornish defence from half way, and angle his run to crash over on the right wing along with the flag following a superb covering tackle by Duda. The speed of the counter caught the referee some way off the pace and with the touch judge enjoying a cup of tea on half way (he really was enjoying a cup of tea on half way!), the try was awarded. The conversion didn’t trouble the scorers but KCS were now in the game. McKeown lead the response, powering into the home 22 with a phalanx of KCS defenders on his back, but the ball was knocked on at the following ruck. However, when KCS took the ball at the scrum, their fly attempted a repeat of his earlier trick, lifting a crossfield kick inside his 22 only for Warwick and Spells to force the mistake, Spells on hand to fly hack the ball on, pick up and plunge across the whitewash for the bonus point try he converted himself, the exiles now 26-5 up with 5 left. Plenty of action in the remaining minutes, and when a Cornish forward pilfered a home lineout close to his own line, it fell invitingly for a KCS forward to simply fall on it and over the line for an unconverted try. With time running out, Duda stifled a KCS counter form their 22, and when Calvert, Osei-Tutu, Oakes, Theobald and Homan picked and drove to the shadow of the posts, Johnson was on hand to pile through the final defender and over for the try, Spells again converting with the final play of the game, his side good value for the 33-10 win.

KCS were clearly very disappointed not to gain a single point from this match, but in truth they were well beaten on the day. The two Committees soon demonstrated that any needle on the pitch stays there whatever the outcome of the match, old acquaintances renewed after a couple of seasons absence.

A very physical and rigorous training session had been the précis to this Cornish performance, with the attendance boosted by the return of the first tranche of players from injury, and that session should set the bar from this point on. However, there is also no doubt that when the side needed it most, the performances of Sincock and McKeown were pivotal to the exiles success on the day, and keeping the pair involved in the medium term should help see Cornish rise back up the table soon.