London Cornish produced ample evidence they are a fast developing team before suffering the cruellest of cuts, a controversial last play of the game penalty try depriving them of the win they richly deserved at unbeaten league leaders Gosport & Fareham in London 2 South-West on Saturday. That Cornish outscored the hosts by 3 tries to 2 and lost 4 men to the bin during the match against none for Gos, this despite the home side conceding 2 more penalties during it, speaks volumes for the herculean effort by the Cornish squad on the day.

The visitors arrived at Gosport Park on a beautiful day to find the pitch in amazing condition, perfect for rugby. With their first choice front V available for the trip, Cornish had absolutely no intention of paying any respect to their hosts record in the league. From the outset this was a brutal match, played out in front of a very large crowd spread down both sides of the pitch, Cornish supporters outnumbered by about 100 to 1! With the knowledge that the home teams game is based largely around their talented 9’s tap and go, the exiles were frustrated to concede an early try from exactly that source on 5 minutes, though fair play to the home kicker for a fine conversion from way out left. Cornish responded instantly, and won 3 penalties inside the 22 down the left hand side of the pitch, all of which were kicked to the corner but all of which were lost at the lineout, which malfunctioned throughout the opening period. On 14 minutes the exiles struck back. Working blind on halfway, scrum half Sam Williams linked with Skip Dave Theobald turning the corner. He drew his man and spun the ball to Cornishman Rich Skinnard to beat a man and chip ahead. The Gos defence made a horlicks of fielding the bouncing ball and like any good open side, it was Ciaran Acford who was on hand to dive on the loose ball to score the try, the conversion attempt by Luke Spells landing squarely on the crossbar and bouncing over to level the scrore. Gos responded but their backline rarely demonstrated much fluency and balls were too often knocked on or spun behind receivers. Back came Cornish on 21, locks Luke Bridges and Ben Ievers attacking with intensity to drive their side deep into the same left hand corner, where once again Gos transgressed but once again the lineout failed and the danger cleared. Two minutes later and with the ball well outside their 22, Cornish were pinged for coming in at the side for the home kicker to extend the lead to 10-5. An identical offence again well outside the 22 4 minutes later remarkably saw an exile binned, the 3 once again registered to increase the deficit to 6. The home side saw the chance to try and put the game to bed now, twice launching attacks down the right hand flank with the extra man, at the first attempt stopped by a combo of centres Spells and Craig Chatley, and at the second working room for one of their larger forwards to head towards the line only for a superb covering tackle by Skinnard launching the lad into touch by the corner flag. Fired up their good d and back up to full numbers, the Cornish response turned the game on its head on 37 minutes. No 8 Mark Osei-Tutu twisted and turned his way out of his 22, and when Williams sent Ian Keith through a gap the counter was on. Blind side Jamie McDonald then fed Skinnard on halfway, and the Cornishman produced finishing of the highest calibre, first darting round the covering back row, then leaving his opposite wing for dead with a soft shoe shuffle before sprinting down the flank outside the covering full back to dive over for a breathtaking score. Though unconverted, this closed the gap to a single point, and Cornish very nearly took the lead in the last few minutes when Acford, continuing in fine form, won a penalty that Spells saw slam into the far upright before being cleared, his side 13-12 down at the break and a nervous murmur audible around the ground.

The early parts of the second period saw little incident bar on 50 minutes when Cornish made 3 changes, bringing on Tom Lloyd, Harry Somers and Andrew Eustace for his debut for Mike Bond, McDonald and Acford. There was a growing sense of frustration around the ground however, as Gos simply couldn’t find any fluency in their play, all too often knocking the ball on in contact or unable to find gaps as the powerful visiting side were more than a physical match, and with the giant former Pirate Somers returning from a long injury absence, Cornish were actually larger than in the opening period. The frustration finally found a vent on 54 minutes when a high tackle out wide lit the blue touchpaper, and the mother of all punch-ups broke out. Gos may have won this section on points, but the outcome from a playing perspective was a yellow for the perpetrator of the high tackle. Gos kicked the ball to the corner but under pressure from a fired up Osei-Tutu knocked the ball on. With the home crowd increasing appealing for any and every offence, Cornish were again pinged for a high tackle when a perfectly legitimate hit on halfway felled a home back, but Eustace quickly demonstrated his value by winning a pen on the floor after the quick tap, the home 9 preventing the exiles from taking a quick tap by using the cute trick of pretending it was his pen and running off with the ball after tapping it. On the hour, Ievers won clean ball at the lineout and the ball was worked to Spells to chip a delicate kick in behind the home back 3 for Matt Hakes to gather only to be bundled into touch 5 out. The home 9 had struggled under pressure all day and now his wobbly kick into the Cornish half was fielded by Hakes on halfway. Stepping the onrushing kick chaser, he hit full back Tom Dorse arriving at full tilt inside, and the Devonian dashed through a gap, the Gos d realizing too late that he had opened them completely. Dorse angled in towards the posts and as he was being closed down switched the ball to the supporting Eustace to clear away from the cover and crash across for his sides third try, another well constructed and this one with only 14 on the field. The conversion faded wide but Cornish now had a valuable 17-13 lead with 17 remaining on the clock. No sooner had their man returned from the bin, the referee found reason to bin first one man on 66 then another on 68 minutes, neither offence anywhere near the red zone and with the penalty count at this point comfortably in the exiles favour. However, try as they might, Gos huffed and puffed but simply couldn’t budge the exiles d, marshaled by a virtuoso performance by Skipper Dave Theobald, him twice pouncing on loose balls in dangerous positions, and winning a penalty at scrum time with his 7 man pack 5 out from his own line. With time running out and the crowd now packing down in the right hand corner near the car park, Gos twice knocked on in midfield under pressure from fine d by Keith and Chatley, the latter soldiering on despite a dead leg. When Cornish were restored to full numbers there were only a couple of minutes left, and the game well into its second hour and injury time. Your correspondent moved behind the posts to better encourage his side, and with a final lunge and the referee indicating last play, the home side drove towards the line, but were held up on it by Osei-Tutu. With the crowd baying for a penalty and all 15 Cornish players behind the ball, to the surprise of everyone watching the referee marched under the posts for a penalty try, him indicating later that he thought the home 9 was impeded from a clear drive to the line. The conversion was a formality and a jubilant Gosport & Fareham had used up a precious ‘get out of jail free’ card to win the game 20-17.

There are cordial relationships between Gosport and Cornish, and these were simply reinforced after the game, the ferocity of the game matched only by the generosity in the bar post match. Gos and Guildford will fight the title out to the bitter end, and your correspondent would happily put money on both sides being in London 1 South next season, whichever way round they finish.

Cornish will take plenty from this match, having taken the unbeaten league leaders all the way despite playing 32 minutes with 14 men and 8 minutes with 13. The better side for much of the match, the visitors demonstrated far more penetration than the hosts evidenced by the 3 tries from open play, and the evolution of the side will see them take the game beyond the point where they can lose a match when the odd refereeing decision goes against them. The stated aim of achieving a highest ever finish of 3rd place is well within the teams reach, and this level of performance will need to be repeated for the remaining matches for this generation of exiles to make an indelible imprint on the record books.