A second successive second half try fest secured the exiles back to back bonus point wins in London 2 South-West, and their third consecutive win in all competitions as they continued to climb up the table to 5th place with this comprehensive win over Trojans. Cornish thoroughly deserved the win, which came courtesy of 4 tries by former Saltash wing Rich Skinnard, playing only his second league game for the club since his move up from God’s Country, this performance made all the better for it being in front of his father who had driven up from Cornwall just to watch the game! The win also marked the promising debut of fly-half Tom Carter, the Loughborough Uni 10 who had played at Twickenham for the club in the pre season, but whose clearance from his other commitments only came through late in the week. With Cornish now having secured the capture of a further 3 key players since the season began, the portents for the exiles have certainly improved since last season.

Trojans arrived at the REMPF having had an indifferent start to their season following relegation from London 1 South, with one win and two draws from their 5 matches to date, though they boasted the second best defence in the league until this match. The opening moments of this match were marred by two unconnected incidents on 4 minutes; the visiting wing dislocated a shoulder, happily returning to the fray after speedy treatment from his physio; however, the fate that befell Cornish Player of the Year Luke Spells is one no man would ever wish to suffer – lets just say a stray boot caught him amidships whilst he was on the floor at a ruck, and detached his buoys from their moorings! He was taken straight to hospital and I am happy to say that all parts have been reattached, which is just as well as he has only recently been married – we wish him well with his recovery. On came the experienced Ian Keith at centre, a like for like replacement. The visitors quickly demonstrated that they possess a potent back line if given good quality ball, and a fine move on 10 minutes saw their left wing cross for an unconverted try, the blustery wind making kicking tough for both sides. Cornish responded with their first real attack of note on 12, wing Phil Francis pinching a ball on the floor having followed up Carter’s angled kick in behind. Harry Somers crashed the ball up and when Sam Williams hit Carter the fly-half sent a perfectly flighted ball to Skinnard to dive over for his first, also unconverted. A high tackle on 15 saw Trojans regain the lead with a penalty, but 2 minutes later they were back under their posts when Cornish were fortuitously awarded a try when a Carter chip in behind was pounced on by Skinnard in the dead-ball area, though seemingly not grounded. The unconverted try inspired the home side, who added some lineout pinching to a totally dominant scrum. Whilst lucky to have been awarded their second try, the exiles luck ran out on 25 when, following the concession of 4 successive penalties, they marched a Ts scrum back to the try line and as they were about to pounce, the visiting back row simply kicked it out and couldn’t believe his luck when he wasn’t penalized! A growing feature of the match was that when Ts talented back line made ground, they were frequently turned over on the floor by the excellence of ‘the silent assassin’ Ciaran Acford and hooker Will Carew-Gibbs. With another attack on 34 minutes, Cornish caught the visiting midfield offside and Carter slotted the 3 from in front. Just when it seemed the exiles had taken command of the game, a poor kick chase saw the home 10 angle a fine kick in behind for the same left wing to notch his second of the game, this one unconverted but the score all square at the break at 13-13.

Within 10 minutes at the start of the second half, Cornish had taken the game clean away from their visitors. Carter regained his side the lead with a penalty from some way out on 41 minutes, and with their scrum under real pressure Ts had no answer when no 8 Mark Osei-Tutu smashed his way over from the base on 44, this his 6th try in the 6 league games to date, the Carter conversion suddenly easing his team to a 10 point lead. It was all Cornish now, lock Ben Ievers frequently in the thick of it with driving runs, supported by prop Mike Bond and blind side Luke Bridges, only a knock-on preventing a further score on 47. Head Coach Tom Sincock now brought on Tom Lloyd and Phil Jones for Skip Dave Theobald and Bridges, a clear indication of the exiles going for the jugular. The plan worked – within 4 minutes a text book backs move saw Matt Hakes switch with Carter, who then hit full back Adam Rae on a great line to pierce the Ts defensive line and send a looping pass to Skinnard to complete his hat-trick, this tricky conversion also made by the fly-half. A rampant exiles nearly produced a further score when Osei-Tutu burst from the base of a scrum and linked with Skinnard only for play to be called back for a forward pass. A sporadic Trojans attack on 61 saw them slot a penalty to reduce the arrears to 30-16, but this was answered in 5 by Carter, who slotted another after Ts were caught offside in midfield again, another trademark Osei-Tutu rampage causing the damage. The next time Trojans gained field position, they attempted a rolling maul but were driven back and then conceded a penalty as Somers pinched the ball on the floor. Back came the exiles, Osei-Tutu breaking from a rolling maul, then Carter and Hakes combining to send the ball to Skinnard. There was no doubting the excellence of this finish, him standing up his opposite man then skinning the full back to dive over for an unconverted try to make the score 38-16. In the remaining minutes of the match, the home side lost first one, then another player to the bin, but held out with no further addition to the score.

It was a shell-shocked Trojans who greeted the final whistle, this their worst defeat of the season. Their fancy dress post match suggests there is nothing wrong with the spirit in the camp however, and with their decent back line they will certainly put this day behind them before long.

Cornish march on, buoyed by their new additions and by the competition for places across the 1s squad now. Clearly showing the benefit of moving to 2 nights training a week, there could be more improvement yet as the new pieces of the jigsaw bed in!