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Sat 14 Oct 2023 · Regional 2 South East
1st XVGravesend
Tries: M Osei Tutu, G Bromage, G JacksonConversions: M EdworthyPenalties: M Edworthy
20
13
Cornish Draw G's Sting Then Strike Fast!
Dickon Moon17 Oct 2023 - 13:36
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Exiles halt Gravesend maul in 1st half then strike decisively in 2nd half.
Despite fielding a lightweight pack against a sizeable visiting one, London Cornish prevailed against Gravesend at the REMPF in Regional 2 South-East on Saturday by drawing the sting out of their opposition in the 1st half before decisively striking 3 times in the 2nd half to take the game away from the Kent side. The 3 tries to 1 victory hoisted the exiles up a place in the league table despite continuing to labour in the absence of so many players attending the RWC.
On a showery, blustery but bright day on a pitch in absolutely perfect condition, Cornish opened up playing away from the clubhouse. Early forays by Gravesend confirmed reports that the Kent side rely very heavily on a powerful rolling maul, which they deployed at every opportunity they could during the match, but Cornish are the arch diffusers of this weapon and repelled every attempt to cross their line in this fashion. When the first attempt failed on 5 minutes, the exiles were at least pinged for hands in the till for the visiting kicker to give his side an early lead. Kicking the restart out on the full gave the visitors the chance to add to their score but when they broke into the home 22, a Ryan Abraham jackal won a penalty to help his side clear their lines. A few minutes later, another G’s attack and this time it was Alex Davey who won a penalty in the shadow of his own posts. With so little ball in the opening quarter and under real pressure at the set pieces, the exiles back line saw very little ball but on 16 minutes Ben Boorman demonstrated why the club have real hope in the remainder of the season as he glided through a gap and chipped ahead for G’s to hack the ball out on their own 22. At the lineout an exile was taken in the air and Edworthy brought his side level with a decent penalty at the angle. On 24 minutes another Gravesend penalty was kicked to the right hand corner 5 out from the exiles line. This time they went to the back but when their 8 carried, Davey pinched the ball on the floor for Edworthy to clear. At the next scrum, the visitors again had the nudge but this time George Jackson at 9 simply ripped the ball from his opposite number to help his side avert the danger again. A rare Cornish foray on 32 minutes saw Dan Phoenix break but the ball was lost forward in a pass out wide deep inside the G’s 22. With the exiles now seeing a little more of the ball, Davey and Robbie Mackay combined down the narrow side on 37 minutes and the Kent side were pinged for a high tackle, but the penalty attempt flew wide of the left hand upright. With the referee indicating final play, Cornish had a scrum on their own 22, but rather than kick the ball dead, electing to move it only to be pinged for holding on. Gravesend kicked the ball to the corner and then won a penalty at the lineout. This time they elected for the scrum V, from where their 8 picked up and drove over wide left for the opening try of the match, well converted by the visiting kicker to give his side a 10-3 lead at the break.
The home side made 2 changes at the break, Jimmy New and Fin Tweedie on for Ryan Abraham and George Jackson, the immediate result of which was a more stable set piece. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, Cornish had their reward. Bromage and Boorman countered from a loose clearance kick deep into the Gs 22, and when the ball was reversed there was Mark Osei-Tutu on hand to crash through tackles for an unconverted try wide right. Suddenly unable to dominate in the tight and with their maul being held more often than not, Gravesend were forced to kick far more than they had in the opening period. However, Fin Robjohn has developed an unerring knack of predicting where the kicks would head and on every occasion he returned the ball with interest. He served warning of his intent with a run on 48 minutes when he linked with Edworthy but 5 minutes later he made a key intervention, carving his way upfield then linking with Tweedie. He exchanged passes with Bromage, who stepped twice to score wide right to give his side the lead, though this conversion attempt also flew wide. The momentum in the match had now clearly swung the exiles way as the visitors visibly tired and the game opened up. Another Tweedie break on 54 minutes saw Cornish knock on wide out when well placed. A further change saw Jack Waving, returning from a spell playing in Australia, return in place of Oscar Cruz on the flank. His first involvement was to try and halt another Gs maul, this one held up over the line by Jackson, who had returned to replace the injured Phoenix. Three more attacks by the visitors saw Waving steal a ball on the floor to end one, Will Drake sack a maul to stop another and Davey make a clean claim from a Gs lineout 5 out ending another. On 70 minutes Cornish struck the decisive blow, Waving breaking clear over half way and into the Gravesend 22. The ball was worked to the right hand side and found its way to Jackson to weave a path through the forwards to scamper over to the right of the posts, Edworthy taking his team out to a 2 score lead at 20-10. This score seemed to galvanise the visitors for one last effort them winning penalties and kicking to the 22, but halted by fair means or foul, Cornish losing a man to the bin on 74 minutes. With 4 left the visiting 8 picked up from a scrum and was unceremoniously dumped into touch by Osei-Tutu, which precipitated a frank exchange of views between a few players! Finally, with time almost up, Gs won a penalty inside the Cs half and elected for the kick, which their kicker landed to give his side the losing bonus point.
Gravesend will undoubtedly be a real handful when the ground gets heavier as they have a lumpy pack and strong set piece, which on a another day against a less savvy opponent would have seen them land more tries. They will take the bonus point and understandably rely on their home form to keep them in the mix in a league where you can throw a blanket over the teams top to bottom.
Cornish have navigated another match in a period when there is not so much competition for selection, on this occasion resulting in a significantly underpowered pack against one of the larger packs in the league, though the side was roared on by a group of well fuelled former players! This was also the least points the team have conceded in the league for around 12 months, another good pointer. They head on the road for a couple of matches now and will be keen to carry on the momentum that has seen them win 2 of their last 3.
On a showery, blustery but bright day on a pitch in absolutely perfect condition, Cornish opened up playing away from the clubhouse. Early forays by Gravesend confirmed reports that the Kent side rely very heavily on a powerful rolling maul, which they deployed at every opportunity they could during the match, but Cornish are the arch diffusers of this weapon and repelled every attempt to cross their line in this fashion. When the first attempt failed on 5 minutes, the exiles were at least pinged for hands in the till for the visiting kicker to give his side an early lead. Kicking the restart out on the full gave the visitors the chance to add to their score but when they broke into the home 22, a Ryan Abraham jackal won a penalty to help his side clear their lines. A few minutes later, another G’s attack and this time it was Alex Davey who won a penalty in the shadow of his own posts. With so little ball in the opening quarter and under real pressure at the set pieces, the exiles back line saw very little ball but on 16 minutes Ben Boorman demonstrated why the club have real hope in the remainder of the season as he glided through a gap and chipped ahead for G’s to hack the ball out on their own 22. At the lineout an exile was taken in the air and Edworthy brought his side level with a decent penalty at the angle. On 24 minutes another Gravesend penalty was kicked to the right hand corner 5 out from the exiles line. This time they went to the back but when their 8 carried, Davey pinched the ball on the floor for Edworthy to clear. At the next scrum, the visitors again had the nudge but this time George Jackson at 9 simply ripped the ball from his opposite number to help his side avert the danger again. A rare Cornish foray on 32 minutes saw Dan Phoenix break but the ball was lost forward in a pass out wide deep inside the G’s 22. With the exiles now seeing a little more of the ball, Davey and Robbie Mackay combined down the narrow side on 37 minutes and the Kent side were pinged for a high tackle, but the penalty attempt flew wide of the left hand upright. With the referee indicating final play, Cornish had a scrum on their own 22, but rather than kick the ball dead, electing to move it only to be pinged for holding on. Gravesend kicked the ball to the corner and then won a penalty at the lineout. This time they elected for the scrum V, from where their 8 picked up and drove over wide left for the opening try of the match, well converted by the visiting kicker to give his side a 10-3 lead at the break.
The home side made 2 changes at the break, Jimmy New and Fin Tweedie on for Ryan Abraham and George Jackson, the immediate result of which was a more stable set piece. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, Cornish had their reward. Bromage and Boorman countered from a loose clearance kick deep into the Gs 22, and when the ball was reversed there was Mark Osei-Tutu on hand to crash through tackles for an unconverted try wide right. Suddenly unable to dominate in the tight and with their maul being held more often than not, Gravesend were forced to kick far more than they had in the opening period. However, Fin Robjohn has developed an unerring knack of predicting where the kicks would head and on every occasion he returned the ball with interest. He served warning of his intent with a run on 48 minutes when he linked with Edworthy but 5 minutes later he made a key intervention, carving his way upfield then linking with Tweedie. He exchanged passes with Bromage, who stepped twice to score wide right to give his side the lead, though this conversion attempt also flew wide. The momentum in the match had now clearly swung the exiles way as the visitors visibly tired and the game opened up. Another Tweedie break on 54 minutes saw Cornish knock on wide out when well placed. A further change saw Jack Waving, returning from a spell playing in Australia, return in place of Oscar Cruz on the flank. His first involvement was to try and halt another Gs maul, this one held up over the line by Jackson, who had returned to replace the injured Phoenix. Three more attacks by the visitors saw Waving steal a ball on the floor to end one, Will Drake sack a maul to stop another and Davey make a clean claim from a Gs lineout 5 out ending another. On 70 minutes Cornish struck the decisive blow, Waving breaking clear over half way and into the Gravesend 22. The ball was worked to the right hand side and found its way to Jackson to weave a path through the forwards to scamper over to the right of the posts, Edworthy taking his team out to a 2 score lead at 20-10. This score seemed to galvanise the visitors for one last effort them winning penalties and kicking to the 22, but halted by fair means or foul, Cornish losing a man to the bin on 74 minutes. With 4 left the visiting 8 picked up from a scrum and was unceremoniously dumped into touch by Osei-Tutu, which precipitated a frank exchange of views between a few players! Finally, with time almost up, Gs won a penalty inside the Cs half and elected for the kick, which their kicker landed to give his side the losing bonus point.
Gravesend will undoubtedly be a real handful when the ground gets heavier as they have a lumpy pack and strong set piece, which on a another day against a less savvy opponent would have seen them land more tries. They will take the bonus point and understandably rely on their home form to keep them in the mix in a league where you can throw a blanket over the teams top to bottom.
Cornish have navigated another match in a period when there is not so much competition for selection, on this occasion resulting in a significantly underpowered pack against one of the larger packs in the league, though the side was roared on by a group of well fuelled former players! This was also the least points the team have conceded in the league for around 12 months, another good pointer. They head on the road for a couple of matches now and will be keen to carry on the momentum that has seen them win 2 of their last 3.
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