In a stunning reversal of this seasons form to date in London 1 South, London Cornish manufactured a monumental return to form with this 20-15 win over an in-form Guildford who the previous week had toppled previously unbeaten league leaders London Welsh. The win was celebrated in ecstatic fashion by the exiles players and supporters alike and provided the ideal backdrop for one hell of a Christmas Party that followed!
Despite new Head Coach Paul Spivey being installed for less than 1 week, he made a series of small but significant changes to proceedings ahead of this match, be they at training, the changing rooms, the match day kit, the warm-up or the starting XV itself with 8 changes from the previous week. On top of this, he was able to select that strong squad with players able to play in their favoured positions and Skipper George Kimmins restored to his role as playmaker at 10. There was also a debut for Ed McCord completing a back row trio who had played together as a unit at university alongside George Shirlaw and Adam Wheeler, the defensive cohesiveness this produced a crucial factor on a day when the exiles lineout was utterly dismantled. Whilst the on pitch portents were good, it should also be added that the vocal support of The Dukes, whose own match was cancelled late on, was a huge help during a match that saw Cornish defend doggedly for long periods.
With the main pitch waterlogged, this game took place on the 2nd pitch in steady rain, which was increasingly sticky as the match progressed. Cornish opened towards the clubhouse playing in their change strip of gold with narrow black bands and it may prove that the ease with which the visitors scored with their opening attack on 2 minutes lured them into a false sense of security, a chip and chase regathered before an offload sent one of Guildford’s forwards scurrying through for a converted try. A quick response was required to steady any Cornish nerves and they got it within 2 minutes when McCord won a penalty for G’s holding on just outside their 22, Kimmins landing the 3. Pete Boele was the architect of the next attack on 8 minutes as to the great delight of his watching Dukes mates, he snaffled an overthrown G’s lineout and broke upfield before the ball was fed to his skipper to launch an angled kick in behind, tho the visitors won the lineout to clear the danger. When Guildford responded with an attack of their own they were met by strong defence lead by Wheeler, who won a penalty for the visitors ball carrier holding on. Playing the game at a decent tempo with AML directing his pack, Cornish aimed to take the game to the city side and on 21 minutes they took the lead. James La Broy won a lineout and the exiles used a maul to force the G’s defence to retreat into their half. AML hit Kimmins and the fly half sold a sumptuous dummy to break through, draw the last man (pictured) and send the supporting Dan Phoenix over for a try 10 in from the left hand touchline, the Skipper improving the score to give his side a 10-7 lead. Buoyed by this score and suddenly playing with a confidence unseen so far this season, Cornish increased the lead on 24 minutes with their best try of the season. La Broy took the ball into midfield and over half-way, Matt Hakes made a half break and managed to free up his arms to flick the ball full back Mike Edworthy in support. The full back pinned one defender and then released the bang in form Terry Gillam on his outside to feint to go outside his man before spinning a reverse pass back into the supporting arms of Edworthy to break clear and dive over for a lightening score in the same place as the previous one, this one also improved by Kimmins. 3 minutes later and the lead was extended again after hooker Ciaran Slater, another who has benefitted from playing regular rugby and whose carrying is an increasing feature for his side, won a penalty for holding on. The pen was kicked to 10 out down the left hand side and when Dave Chalkley was taken out at the lineout, Kimmins launched his fourth successful kick of the half over the posts to give his side a 20-7 lead a mere 8 minutes after they were 7-3 down! With the momentum behind them, McCord was next to win a penalty and Kimmins launched this one 10 out down the left hand side. La Broy claimed the Slater arrow and Cornish set the maul rolling only for G’s to somehow emerge with the ball as the maul approached their line, the ball cleared. There was time in the half for Cornish to twice be penalised to gift field position to the visitors, only for Chalkey to steal one ball and Gillam to win a penalty as he stayed strong over the ball inside his own 22. The half ended with the home side 20-7 ahead and the visitors certainly shell-shocked at the team they had encountered so far in the match.
Galvanised by a stern half-time team talk, Guildford began the 2nd half on the front foot, winning a penalty, which they kicked to 10 out. Their maul was repelled so they pick and drove their way across the pitch to the shadow of the posts only to find Wheeler over the ball to win the penalty, his Skipper clearing. What was to become a pattern in this 2nd half saw Cornish frequently cough up line out ball to be forced on the defensive but then demonstrate a level of cohesion and physicality in d that has not existed until this day so far this season. On 50 minutes and after Edworthy had launched a long clearing kick that the home side managed to reclaim, AML combined with Kimmins to send McCord away over half-way but just as Cornish had G’s backpedalling a forward pass brought a frustrating end to the attack. It did not take long after this for Guildford to narrow the gap with a penalty from in front to reduce the arrears to 10, Boele replaced by Oli Low at this point. In the gathering gloom and with the cloying pitch beginning to make the match more attritional, penalties were becoming the key method of making big yardage. On 64 minutes once such a penalty was launched by Guildford to 5 out down the right hand flank. Though their maul was repelled, they broke clear and produced a series of pick and drives to eventually force their way over for a try just to the right of the posts, though their kicker pushed his conversion attempt across the face of the posts. Further changes saw Wheeler roll off then on again as Chalkley took a head knock, Mark Osei-Tutu on and quickly bringing his own brand of rumbustious call carrying to the fray. Cornish did land a 50/22 on 70 mins via the boot of Kimmins but continued lineout malfunctions meant they did not capitalise on the opportunity. Using attack as the best form of defence saw OTT break a tackle and rampage upfield after another La Broy lineout win but a knock on the visitors 22 saw the foray halted. Gradually, as the light closed in and both teams shirts began to merge into one muddy colour, the visitors pushed Cornish deeper and deeper into their 22. Winning a series of penalties they first tried to roll a maul over and then attempted to shove the exiles back over their line after a number of resets in the heavy conditions. When these options failed they produced wave after wave of attack from side to side across the pitch, each met with heroic defence as the exiles team to a man stood firm, Dave Theobald a granite guard twice flooring runners coming from depth. With time almost up this defence began to push the visitors away from the line until eventually, with the referee indicating last play Cornish forced a knock on and walloped the ball dead for the whistle to sound and the celebrations to begin!
The Guildford coaching team and players were graceful and generous in defeat and all came back for the post match shindig, for which we are grateful. The 2 clubs renew rivalry at Broadwater in the spring and likely will face each other again next season too, so we look forward to all of those occasions as the matches are always played in the right spirit and their supporters a fair minded bunch.
This was a huge result for Cornish but it must prove to be a springboard to a broader recovery rather than a one off. The squad will only grow from this point on as more and more lads return from injury but this match proved that the team has it in it to compete on even terms in London 1 South. Hopefully, the forthcoming weekends fixtures will not be affected by the looming spectre of a return to a form of lockdown but if it is a hiatus, Cornish will enter it in good spirit!