Another in the compelling series of matches over the last half dozen years between these two well matched clubs, saw London Cornish deservedly take the spoils against 2nd placed Tottonians at the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields on Saturday. Cornish can be proud to have kept their composure despite conceding one highly dubious try, and having a perfectly good one of their own ruled out. The exiles remain 8th in the league, while their visitors slip to 4th.

Despite the torrential rain during the 2 week break, the pitch was in perfect condition and Cornish began playing away from the scoreboard end on an overcast but mild and dry day. The early minutes of the match were punctuated by knock on’s as both sides sought to rid themselves of their excesses. The exiles were first on the board, Luke Spells slotting a penalty from just outside the Totts 22 following a driving Tim Oakes run. An early feature of the game that was to continue throughout the match, was the pressure applied on the Totts backline, and from a turnover on 12 minutes Cornish worked a fine move from right to left via player/coach Tom Sincock, fly half Rich McKeown and Spells, but the final pass to full back Nick Harlock was deemed forward. Despite as strong an opening as they have given all season, the home side were only 3 to the good as Totts withstood all that was thrown at them. On 15 an exiles pass was knocked on further than most people can pass! The resulting counter saw Totts take full advantage as their centre powered into the 22, and when the ball was recycled the visiting lock plunged over for an unconverted score. Back came Cornish, Harlock sending wing Robin Heymann away down the left. As the wing stepped inside he pulled a hamstring and the ball was knocked on just a few feet from the line. Totts cleared long to lock Ben Ievers on halfway, and as he thundered into the Totts half he was met by a no arms tackle by a visiting back, though the lad came off worse as he was flattened by Ievers, needed length treatment and had conceded a penalty. Heymann was replaced by Phil Francis but his side was pinged at the lineout 5 out for sealing off the ball. The Hampshire wide responded, sending runners on an arc into the exiles midfield where Oakes, Max Cantrell and McKeown were all called into defensive action before the ball was won on the floor by hooker Tim Homan for Harlock to clear. On 27 minutes it was the visitors pinged for sealing off and Cornish kicked to the Totts 22. As the ball was worked off the top to Sincock, McKeown drove deep into the heart of the visitors 22, and when Oakes shunted the Totts d to the shadow of their posts, lock Pete Calvert burst off the back of the ruck to twist through a tackle and over under the posts, Spells converting. Straight from the kick off Cornish were penalized for holding, the 3 a formality for the Totts 10, the score now 10-8. For the next 5 minutes Cornish played a fine brand of attacking rugby, Calvert, Oakes and Harlock all 3 times involved in a mix of drives, pops and angled runs. Totts defence held firm as they were worked first one way then another inside their own 22, until finally Sincock sent Francis blind and he bounced a pass to Harlock to demonstrate what a prodigious finisher he is, powering over low wide left for an unconverted try. In the remaining minutes of the half Totts had another penalty attempt from distance, but this fell short and try as they might in the remaining minutes they could not penetrate the swarming home defence.

Supporters of both sides were barely catching their breath when Oakes opened the second half with a crunching tackle on a Totts forward forcing the knock on. The promotion contenders then produced their best passage of play in the match to work an overlap wide left only for a woeful final pass to see the ball dribble apologetically forward. However, they did not have long to wait as a huge slice of fortune befell them at the scrum. A clean heal saw the ball reach the base of the exiles scrum so fast Sincock only had time to flick it back over his try line where Iain Short pounced on it for the 22. As the ball then popped out from where Short touched down, the Totts 9 dived on it too, and the referee awarded a try just a few feet to the left of the posts. The conversion was a formality leveling the scores, but rather than direct their ire elsewhere, Cornish channeled it into the very next scrum, a huge 8 man effort forcing the loosehead to concede a penalty as Skip Dave Theobald did what he does best. The kick was from some way out and from an angle, but it flew wide right. The home side brought on Mark Osei-Tutu at 8 now, moving Cantrell to 6 and withdrawing Oakes for a spell. Osei-Tutu played the remaining minutes of the match like a man possessed, frequently taking ball straight from Sincock and McKeown to hammer through the first line Totts defence and give his side great field position. From one such run on 62 minutes he punched over half way, and supported by the effervescent Mike Bond enjoying a fine game, won a penalty for offside. This time Spells made no mistake and lifted his side into an 18-15 lead. Now the home side brought on Oli Low in place of Theobald, and he too had a positive impact, producing a series of his own carries to drive play away from Cornish territory. With 14 minutes left, the exiles brought Oakes back on for Cantrell. Totts badly needed field position, but on the two occasions they won lineouts with a chance to counter now, first Ievers and then Calvert pinched clean ball, the first of these seeing Francis produce a great counter in an exchange with Bond and Homan before being bundled into touch on the visitors 22. Try as they might, the more Totts tried to run out of defence, the more mistakes they made as Short and Spells locked up the midfield forcing knock on’s and forward passes. This presented Cornish with great possession on 78 minutes, and following an interchange and pick and drives by Calvert, Sincock and Oakes they won a penalty wide left. Kicking to the corner they won the lineout, and worked a rolling maul to the line, from where Osei-Tutu drove across to ‘score’, but having mistaken the try line for the dead ball line, he first scored and then planted the ball over the dead ball line, the referee only seeing the latter move and awarding a drop out! Chasing the game is never easy, and Cornish closed out the game with no further alarm to record their third straight league win.

There is little doubt that the promotion chase is as tight as it has ever been in London 2 South-West this season, and though Tottonians slip to 4th they will remain at the heart of the hunt. Much of the post match discussion revolved around trying to ensure a regular stream of competitive fixtures for the respective 2nd, 3rd and 4th teams of the 2 clubs, with all having suffered from clubs scratching with little or no notice. It may well see a full suite of home and away fixtures if the two clubs remain in the same league next season.

Cornish continue on their upward performance curve with this win, and can ease back a few more of their regulars in forthcoming weeks – just as well, since this was the first of 4 straight league games.