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Sat 11 Feb 2023 · Regional 2 Thames
Old Priorians
1st XV
28
27
Tries: E McCord, R MackayConversions: G KimminsPenalties: G Kimmins (5)
Cornish Force OP's to Dig Deep for Win!
Dickon Moon14 Feb 2023 - 23:20
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Exiles improve again to run 3rd placed side close!
A pulsating match at Perivale Lane in Regional 2 Thames on Saturday ultimately saw 3rd placed Old Priorians wrestle victory from 7th placed London Cornish after a titanic battle in which the visitors lead for most of the match. The losing bonus point for the exiles helps them retain their position as having landed the most bonus points in the league in conjunction with leaders Hammersmith & Fulham and also demonstrates that it wouldn’t take a huge amount of improvement for Cornish to be a force in this league next season, them having lost by less than a score at the teams currently placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Regional 2 Thames, and by a combined total of 3 points in the 2 matches v OP’s.
The game began with Cornish playing towards the clubhouse in their change gold strip on a perfect playing surface on a dry, overcast day with the floodlights on from the start. The exiles began brightly, George Kimmins sending a long pass to waiting Robbie Mackay, who was to enjoy another fine performance in Cornish colours making ground on every occasion he had the ball. Mackay broke into the OP 22 where the home side were caught offside, though the penalty attempt flew narrowly wide of the left hand upright, 5 minutes on the clock. With Tom Carr a constant menace in the lineouts and the exiles having a significant advantage in the tight, OPs found it tough to gain any foothold in the game in this early period, a retreating scrum on halfway on 10 minutes seeing George Jackson force the home 8 to knock on. 3 minutes later Ed McCord sat down one of the home back row and carried deep into the home half before winning a penalty when the tackler attempted to play the ball, Kimmins giving his side a deserved lead. On 15 minutes Jackson claimed an overthrown OP lineout and cantered into the home half, the ball sent wide to Mackay to break a tackle and win a penalty, which the exiles kicked to 5 out. Though the lineout was knocked on, at the scrum the home side were pinged for going off their feet to try and protect the ball, Kimmins doubling his sides tally. With all of the momentum, the visitors were back on the attack on 20, a Kieran Rodda garryowen spilled by the OP full back and repeated phases seeing Mike McEwen held up over the line. Undeterred, back came Cornish, Mike Edworthy fashioning room to offload to Mark Osei-Tutu on his shoulder wide right. The powerful back row drew a man and flicked the ball inside to McCord to beat a despairing tackle and angle in to score 10 in from the posts, Kimmins driving his kick between the posts for a 13-0 lead. A hard earned and deserved lead can so quickly be undone with a single piece of inspiration and so it proved. At the restart one of the OP number timed his running jump to perfection to take the ball in stride and break into the exiles 22. With the d in disarray it only took a couple more phases for the home side to score to the right of the posts, the conversion reducing the arrears to 6. The score galvanised the home side and now they showed more of the form that helped them to their lofty perch in the league, this despite ongoing issues in the lineouts that saw Dave Theobald and Jackson both claim home throws during this period. However, on 35 minutes one of the OP forwards managed to skip through a tackle inside the Cornish 22 to score by the posts, the conversion giving the home side the lead for the first time. On 37 minutes a huge shove at an OP put in on half-way saw the exiles win a penalty, Kimmins producing a howitzer to give his side back the lead at 16-14. With time running out on the half, the returning Matt Hakes won a penalty, kicked into the OP half. Ciaran Slaters arrow was true and Carr claimed, the ball worked to Rodda who was taken down by a high tackle. Up stepped Kimmins to extend the lead further, the exiles 19-14 to the good at the break.
Another fast start saw Osei-Tutu and McCord combine to win a penalty kicked to halfway by Edworthy, then a Jackson break see the visitors land another penalty, again landed from distance by Kimmins to extend the lead to 22-14. OP’s were very frustrated to see a try chalked off for a double movement on 48 minutes and the rumblings of discontent could be heard amongst their players as the exiles cleared their lines. Their mood wasn’t improved a few minutes later when they broke to 5 out only for Niko Mirosevic-Sorgo to rip the ball from the carrier for Kimmins to clear. On 56 minutes Cornish produced an absolute peach of a try. It began with another steal at an OP lineout inside the exiles half. Jackson hit Edworthy who in turn passed to Hakes to weave between 2 defenders and pass to Rodda. He drew his opposite man before producing a sumptuous underarm flick to Mackay hugging the touchline. Angling inside his opposite man then back out, the exiles top try scorer raced down the left wing to take the ball to the house (pictured) for his 12 try in 14 league appearances so far this season, the conversion not close. For the second time in the match Cornish gave up a healthy lead straight after gaining it. This time two consecutive pens were conceded, the second one seeing a tap and go and an OP forward crashing over not far from the posts, the conversion narrowing the deficit to 6. A period of cagey kick tennis followed and gradually the visitors were forced to defend deeper and deeper as the home side at last sorted out their lineout, despite the best efforts of Osei-Tutu who made plenty of yardage in the closing minutes and Hakes, who twice held up OP backs to win scrums for his side. On 72 minutes Cornish attacked from deep but were intercepted by an unlikely source, the giant OP lock lurking out wide. Though Cornish forced them out in the 22 left hand side, they found their clearing kick charged down and had to repeat the lineout. This time however the timing was out, the lineout lost and an onrushing OP forward took the ball to 5 out, where he dropped the ball for a fellow forward to snaffle it and drive over half way to the posts for the hosts bonus point try. The conversion wasn’t a tough one but the scoreline brought pressure, the home kicker making it 4 out of 4 to give his side the lead for the first in the 2nd half with a mere 7 minutes remaining. Try as they might in the remaining minutes of the match, Cornish could not fashion anything close to another opportunity and when eventually they were corralled into their 22, they conceded a penalty, which OPs gleefully popped into touch for the final whistle to sound.
OP’s ground is actually St Benedict’s school sports field and on arrival the exiles found it all locked up as no one lives on site. Once inside, there are generous changing rooms but, given it is an educational facility, no on site bar so, in common with H&F and Belsize Park the post match requires a schlep to a pub with very limited parking (as opposed to Cornish where there is plenty of parking!). This has been a stellar season for the club and they certainly bring something to the league, if only in an insatiable coverage on social media! We hope to see them again next season as the two matches between the sides have been crackers and of real quality for the level too.
For Cornish the journey from the end of last season to where they are now has been remarkable. Watch this space to see if the exiles can kick on again next season as that will definitely be the plan!
The game began with Cornish playing towards the clubhouse in their change gold strip on a perfect playing surface on a dry, overcast day with the floodlights on from the start. The exiles began brightly, George Kimmins sending a long pass to waiting Robbie Mackay, who was to enjoy another fine performance in Cornish colours making ground on every occasion he had the ball. Mackay broke into the OP 22 where the home side were caught offside, though the penalty attempt flew narrowly wide of the left hand upright, 5 minutes on the clock. With Tom Carr a constant menace in the lineouts and the exiles having a significant advantage in the tight, OPs found it tough to gain any foothold in the game in this early period, a retreating scrum on halfway on 10 minutes seeing George Jackson force the home 8 to knock on. 3 minutes later Ed McCord sat down one of the home back row and carried deep into the home half before winning a penalty when the tackler attempted to play the ball, Kimmins giving his side a deserved lead. On 15 minutes Jackson claimed an overthrown OP lineout and cantered into the home half, the ball sent wide to Mackay to break a tackle and win a penalty, which the exiles kicked to 5 out. Though the lineout was knocked on, at the scrum the home side were pinged for going off their feet to try and protect the ball, Kimmins doubling his sides tally. With all of the momentum, the visitors were back on the attack on 20, a Kieran Rodda garryowen spilled by the OP full back and repeated phases seeing Mike McEwen held up over the line. Undeterred, back came Cornish, Mike Edworthy fashioning room to offload to Mark Osei-Tutu on his shoulder wide right. The powerful back row drew a man and flicked the ball inside to McCord to beat a despairing tackle and angle in to score 10 in from the posts, Kimmins driving his kick between the posts for a 13-0 lead. A hard earned and deserved lead can so quickly be undone with a single piece of inspiration and so it proved. At the restart one of the OP number timed his running jump to perfection to take the ball in stride and break into the exiles 22. With the d in disarray it only took a couple more phases for the home side to score to the right of the posts, the conversion reducing the arrears to 6. The score galvanised the home side and now they showed more of the form that helped them to their lofty perch in the league, this despite ongoing issues in the lineouts that saw Dave Theobald and Jackson both claim home throws during this period. However, on 35 minutes one of the OP forwards managed to skip through a tackle inside the Cornish 22 to score by the posts, the conversion giving the home side the lead for the first time. On 37 minutes a huge shove at an OP put in on half-way saw the exiles win a penalty, Kimmins producing a howitzer to give his side back the lead at 16-14. With time running out on the half, the returning Matt Hakes won a penalty, kicked into the OP half. Ciaran Slaters arrow was true and Carr claimed, the ball worked to Rodda who was taken down by a high tackle. Up stepped Kimmins to extend the lead further, the exiles 19-14 to the good at the break.
Another fast start saw Osei-Tutu and McCord combine to win a penalty kicked to halfway by Edworthy, then a Jackson break see the visitors land another penalty, again landed from distance by Kimmins to extend the lead to 22-14. OP’s were very frustrated to see a try chalked off for a double movement on 48 minutes and the rumblings of discontent could be heard amongst their players as the exiles cleared their lines. Their mood wasn’t improved a few minutes later when they broke to 5 out only for Niko Mirosevic-Sorgo to rip the ball from the carrier for Kimmins to clear. On 56 minutes Cornish produced an absolute peach of a try. It began with another steal at an OP lineout inside the exiles half. Jackson hit Edworthy who in turn passed to Hakes to weave between 2 defenders and pass to Rodda. He drew his opposite man before producing a sumptuous underarm flick to Mackay hugging the touchline. Angling inside his opposite man then back out, the exiles top try scorer raced down the left wing to take the ball to the house (pictured) for his 12 try in 14 league appearances so far this season, the conversion not close. For the second time in the match Cornish gave up a healthy lead straight after gaining it. This time two consecutive pens were conceded, the second one seeing a tap and go and an OP forward crashing over not far from the posts, the conversion narrowing the deficit to 6. A period of cagey kick tennis followed and gradually the visitors were forced to defend deeper and deeper as the home side at last sorted out their lineout, despite the best efforts of Osei-Tutu who made plenty of yardage in the closing minutes and Hakes, who twice held up OP backs to win scrums for his side. On 72 minutes Cornish attacked from deep but were intercepted by an unlikely source, the giant OP lock lurking out wide. Though Cornish forced them out in the 22 left hand side, they found their clearing kick charged down and had to repeat the lineout. This time however the timing was out, the lineout lost and an onrushing OP forward took the ball to 5 out, where he dropped the ball for a fellow forward to snaffle it and drive over half way to the posts for the hosts bonus point try. The conversion wasn’t a tough one but the scoreline brought pressure, the home kicker making it 4 out of 4 to give his side the lead for the first in the 2nd half with a mere 7 minutes remaining. Try as they might in the remaining minutes of the match, Cornish could not fashion anything close to another opportunity and when eventually they were corralled into their 22, they conceded a penalty, which OPs gleefully popped into touch for the final whistle to sound.
OP’s ground is actually St Benedict’s school sports field and on arrival the exiles found it all locked up as no one lives on site. Once inside, there are generous changing rooms but, given it is an educational facility, no on site bar so, in common with H&F and Belsize Park the post match requires a schlep to a pub with very limited parking (as opposed to Cornish where there is plenty of parking!). This has been a stellar season for the club and they certainly bring something to the league, if only in an insatiable coverage on social media! We hope to see them again next season as the two matches between the sides have been crackers and of real quality for the level too.
For Cornish the journey from the end of last season to where they are now has been remarkable. Watch this space to see if the exiles can kick on again next season as that will definitely be the plan!
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