London Cornish never recovered from conceding two tries in the opening few minutes of this London 1 South match at Battersea Ironsides Garratt Green HQ on Saturday and in the end were a comprehensively beaten side against a much lumpier and more powerful home side. This match reflected many of the early season travails suffered by the exiles as they lost 3 players to injury in the opening 30 minutes and never really got to grips with the home attack.
The match opened on a municipal pitch on a beautiful early spring day with Cornish playing towards the school in the 1st half. Within 6 minutes the visitors had twice been standing under their posts as the hosts crossed wide left then wide right for unconverted tries, the ease of which surprised many watching including the puzzled visitors coaching team. Seeking a route back into the match, the exiles were handed one on 8 minutes when a deliberate knock on following an Ed McCord jackal saw George Kimmins land a long range penalty on the significant breeze at his back. A couple of minutes later and a Tony Pellow arrow found James La Broy for Cornish to set a maul rolling but this was well defended and the opportunity went begging as it was for much of the afternoon for the visitors. Back came the exiles but where Ironsides hit gaps when they had the ball, Cornish hit walls, too often turned over in possession. McCord won another penalty on 22 minutes and again his side hammered at the door inside the I’s 22. With another advantage after carries by La Broy (who enjoyed a fine afternoon ball in hand and is pictured on one such a charge), Joe Lynch, Ciaran Slater and Pellow, Skipper Kimmins stepped back behind a ruck and struck a drop goal sweetly to reduce the arrears to 4. This cost Pellow however and he was replaced by Oli Low at this point. Needing a period of defensive stability, Cornish could only rue their luck as an Ironsides chip bounced obliquely into the arms of an onrushing forward for him to canter over for a converted try on 26 minutes. On the half hour mark a Kimmins break following a Dan Phoenix offload took play to 5 out but the final pass was grassed with the line begging. This passage of play saw Dave Chalkey and Matt Hakes both injured to be replaced by debutant Luke Waller and the returning Ben Lines respectively, like for like in both cases but a big ask for lads short of match practice over the last 6 months. Continuing to control the tempo of the match, Ironsides went close again on 35 minutes when their 8 was hauled down when about to burst free inside the exiles 22, but the respite did not last long as Cornish managed to spill the ball in their next attack right into the arms of the home wing, who countered before flipping an inside ball to a forward to take it to the house for another converted try. Waller and La Broy combined in the remaining minutes of the half to take play to the shadow of Ironsides posts, but whereas the Surrey side were clinical, Cornish were not, the ball knocked on for the half-time whistle to sound with Ironsides 24-6 to the good.
Cornish began the 2nd period with intent, Lynch and Waller again in the fray but an isolated runner saw their side pinged for holding on. Within 3 minutes the pair would join their team mates back under the posts as a curiously large hole appeared in the exiles d to shepherd an Ironside forward over by the posts for a converted try. Another Cornish attack foundered on a knock on following a great midfield combo by Phoenix and Lines over half-way. Though Slater on the floor and Mike Edworthy with a great covering tackle stemmed the flow for a period, the exiles simply could not seem to plug the gaps for long enough and on 52 and 56 minutes conceded tries, one of which was improved. It was somewhat against the run of play that Cornish did eventually find a some continuity, a long Kimmins pass sending Edworthy around the Ironsides left wing and his pass giving Kieran Rodda the chance to waltz over for the try, though he was nearly surprised by the covering defender trying to hold him up in goal, Kimmins adding the conversion. This try seemed to galvanise the visitors for now they pieced together their best passages of play in the match, La Broy a constant ball carrying threat while George Shirlaw and Chris Wright also saw more of the action down the left flank as scrum half George Jackson probed this way and that to find holes through which to send runners. On 63 minutes another Rodda break saw a try butchered by a knock on with the line gaping. Eventually forced back into their 22 the exiles were turned over as they tried to break out to give Ironsides the simplest of run-ins for a 7 pointer to bring up the 50. Cornish responded and Phoenix broke through inside the 22 but as he angled towards the posts the home full back simply stuck a leg out to trip him up, the yellow card a formality and on another day perhaps a penalty try too. Cornish made a complete horlicks of the scrum they elected to take following the penalty and the chance as gone. In the remaining meaningful minutes of the match another chip bounced into the arms of an Ironsides player to gleefully scamper over under the posts for the final converted try of the day, the home side well worth their big win.
Ironsides will have tougher days at the office than this one and must have been surprised at how porous they found the Cornish defence given recent improvements. Though there was a significant difference in size across the park between the two sides, you still have to execute and in keeping their error count down well beneath that of their visitors the home side proved way more clinical. Good luck to them for the rest of the season and who knows if we will see them next season given their proximity to the Thames.
Two big defeats in the last 2 weeks have certainly set Cornish back and they need to respond quickly in terms of performance in the remaining 7 matches of the London 1 South season. They have demonstrated that they can raise their game to compete on even terms and will need to do so again starting with the hard yards at training.