London Cornish maintained their 2 point lead at the top of London 2 South-West with this 20-0 victory over a Reigatians side whose current league position will surely prove to be an artificial one. The win was founded on the home sides ability to take most of their chances when they came, and on a fine defensive effort that ensured that even on the 2 occasions the visitors did cross the Cornish line, they were held up.

No team lost more home matches to the weather last season than Cornish, and during the close season the club took the sensible precaution of moving the clubs second pitch to better ground and securing a reserve third pitch on the section of land on the other side of the river up by the A3. With the weather having made the clubs first pitch unplayable, the new arrangements were used for the first time, so this league match was played on a pitch that last season was unused, it laid back to back with the first pitch. The new reserve pitch is in such good condition, it had barely been affected by the rain and the respective 2s game was played on it.

Cornish played away from the clubhouse in the opening period, steady rain making for a slippery surface. With early pressure on the visitors set pieces, the exiles had much of the early play with Rob Healey and Ben Devonport prominent, but both sides made errors in the tough conditions. The visitors won a penalty just inside the exiles half on 7, but their long range penalty flew well wide. Healey forced a knock on at the base of the OR scrum and linked with Phil Dale to send Matt Hakes away on 10, the wing shunted into touch 5 out and the danger averted. On 15 the rangy visiting left wing made a clean break but a combination tackle by Mark Osei-Tutu and full back Joe Skinnard ended the attack inside the 22. Hakes involvement was ended shortly after, him tweaking a hamstring to bring Nigel Johnston on at full back with Joe Skinnard switching to the wing. The next time the visitors attacked was to be from a split ball in their own 22, the fly hack running all the way to the exiles 22 before open side Ciaran Acford recovered it, and won a penalty for the ball to be cleared. Finally, on 32 minutes, Cornish won consecutive penalties and worked their way to 5 out down the right hand flank. Harry Somers won the line out, but instead of setting the rolling maul, Osei-Tutu spotted a gap blind and was driven across the line by hooker Will Carew-Gibbs for the opening points, the conversion wide. The score seemed to galvanise the exiles, and 2 minutes later they extended the lead when Luke Spells landed a penalty following strong runs by Somers and Dale. With time running out on the half, Reigatians worked their way upfield with a series of pick and drives, until finally driving across the line only to be held up for the whistle to sound on the half with the league leaders 8-0 to the good.

The next score was likely to be vital, and with their very first attack in the second half Cornish got it. Joe Skinnard stepped in to first receiver as his side attacked from right to left on 41 minutes, and when he launched a cross field kick his brother Richard first out jumped the OR wing to gather the ball, then stepped the cover and sprinted away to slide over for a fine opportunistic try, this one also unconverted. Cornish were now completely on top, Osei-Tutu making huge ground with his driving runs, him linking with Craig Chatley to power into the OR 22, only for the ball to be knocked on when it was recycled. On 45 minutes the visitors made a horlicks of fielding a Healey chip, and as it rolled toward the back of the in goal area Joe Skinnard pounced to touch it down. However, the play had been too swift for the referee who couldn't award what he couldn't see, much to the consternation of the home side. Cornish made a double change on 50, bringing on Tom Lloyd and Jamie McDonald for Mike Bond and Chris Anstey, the latter having enjoyed another decent ball stealing match. On 55 Cornish extended their lead again, when Skip Dave Theobald, Somers, Dale, Devonport and McDonald all fed off Dale and Healey to drive to 5 out before the scrum half sniped his way over, the referee this time in the perfect condition to make the award and Spells adding the extras to make the score 20-0. Reigatians did not lie down however, and it took all of the Cornish pairing of Somers and Devonport's skills to pinch line out ball when threatened, and Acfords efforts on the floor also saved the day. With thickening fog now early washing across the pitch, it became difficult to tell the 2 teams apart at times. For the first time this season, the exiles seemed to lose the referee at this point, continually being pinged until losing a man to the bin on 67 minutes. This actually seemed to inspire the exiles, and when Osei-Tutu broke from his own 22, he was supported by both Johnston and Somers to drive all the way up the pitch to 10 out. With a huge overlap begging, a loose pass was knocked on in midfield and the opportunity lost. Cornish were restored to full numbers just in time, for Reigatians again enjoyed a period of pressure in the closing minutes, but when they elected to scrum when winning a penalty 5 out, they were driven clean off their own ball. Finally, the visiting 10 weaved through a gap but just as he began to slide under the posts, he was gathered in by 2 exiles and held up over the line. Try as they might in the closing seconds, the visitors simply couldn't batter their way across the line despite the lions share of possession, and when the final whistle sounded in fog so thick you couldn't see from one end of the pitch to the other, the black and gold defensive line had held strong.

Reigatians slip to 9th with this defeat, but are surely capable of picking up points against many sides in the division and will not be long in regaining the winning thread. They brought both of their sides up to the pub post match as the decent off field relationship between these two long standing opponents were further enhanced.

Cornish did not hit the heights of the previous 2 weeks performances here, but winning is a habit and Cornish have now landed 17 of their last 20 league games in London 2 South-West, two of the three defeats coming with the final play and the other to a Guildford side now riding high in the division above. The league continues to throw up surprise results each week, so there can be no complacency and this big squad will be reminded of that fact every Wednesday.