Cornish Capitulate Late After Early Triple Whammy!

Ah, the best laid plans! London Cornish made a series of changes from the squad used the previous week, including giving former Truro back Sam Vaughan, and club stalwarts Mark Shields and Ali Springer debuts, the latter 2 off the bench. This may have worked, but for a freak triple injury occuring in the same passage of play inside the opening quarter. The impact of having no bench to go to in the final quarter, and the exiles continued inability to take more of their chances, saw Thurrock able to cling on, and then strike decisively late to win with a bonus point.
Cornish arrived to find the pitch at Oakfields in surprisingly good shape given the persistent rain of late, but heavy rain fell before and throughout the match. Thurrock had turned over some decent sides at their HQ this season, so though Cornish had made some changes, they were in no way complacent going in to the game. The home side struck early, a cross field kick deep inside the exiles 22 well fielded by their left wing above his opposite number, allowing him the simplest task to fall over the line for a converted try. Claude Springer, who enjoyed a fine game, was at the heart of the response, his driving run winning a penalty well converted by Skip George Kimmins. A further penalty attempt from distance flew just to the left of the posts, and when Cornish coughed up the the ball 5 minutes later on half-way, the danger appeared minimal. However, first hooker Ken Onwuke ripped a hamstring when the counter came down the short side, then full back Vaughan's knee locked as the tried to cover across. Finally, as a ruck formed on the exiles 22, blind side Nick Goss wheeled away with an horrific facial injury that will require maxillofacial surgery later this week. It was no surprise that they worked the ball across the exiles 22 left to right, Thurrock simply had too many men and their right wing was the beneficiary this time, though this was not converted. The issue for Cornish was further compounded because Goss was the exiles hooker replacement for Onwuka, though Dave Theobald is fortunately also capable of covering the slot. On came Mark O'Leary at tight head, Shields at centre (the versatile Chris Smart moving to 15), and Ali Springer at 7. Surprisingly, this seemed to galvanise the visitors, spurred on by decent carrying from both Springers, La Broy and the returning Steve Wood. Penalties piled up in the exiles favour, particularly at scrum time where Cornish were very dominant, and on the half hour mark at a scrum 5 out, scrum half Rich Stephens arrowed a snipe between 2 defenders before they could respond, sliding over for a key score (pictured), though it went unconverted. Back came the exiles, Kimmins kicking a penalty to 10 out down the left hand flank on 38 minutes. The initial throw was slapped into the arms of Claude Springer. He wheeled away through a gap in the line created by 2 defenders blocking each other, broke a tackle and cantered over for a try converted by Kimmins, Cornish edging to the break 14-15 up.
For the third quarter of the match, Cornish dominated territory and possession, but found a series of ways not to land any points. On a couple of occasions, the ball was inexplicably picked up at the base of a scrum when it was powering over the line, both chances lost. On 2 more occasions, on 47 and 57 minutes, very kickable penalties flew narrowly right of the posts, the second of these seeing a Thurrock forward binned for a high tackle. On 49 minutes, Kimmins made a break on half way, chipped over the last defender, outsprinted the cover, then saw the ball bounce up into his chest just as he was about to gather it for the score. On 2 more occasions, Cornish hammered away on the home try line, but were held up by heroic defence in the very cold, wet ground. These attacks cried out for a little width, as the visitors had the overlaps if they only could have used them, but the options taken fed the home d, and maybe Thurrock needed it that little bit more. Twice the Essex side countered from deep, but though they made the initial incision and cleared most of the length of the pitch, on one occasion the final pass flew forward, and on the other a fine covering tackle saw the ball knocked on. However, teams gain strength from successful defensive sets, and having seen Cornish butcher the chances to put the game to bed, Thurrock sensed their opportunity with the visitors seemingly spent. With the match being played under floodlights, another crossfield kick on 71 was lost by the exiles defender, it bouncing up into the grateful arms of their left wing, who had the simplest task to step his way over for an unconverted score to give his side a 19-14 lead. Then, with time almost up, Cornish lost the ball in their 22 as they attempted to counter, and Thurrock worked room to send their wing over for his hat trick, this one also unconverted on a tough day for the kickers. The final score saw the league strugglers land a key bonus point win, that lifted them out of the bottom 3.
Thurrock demonstrated real fight in this match, and will need plenty more of the same in what is becoming a titanic battle towards the bottom of the table. They are a decent bunch off the pitch, and they are the type of old school rugby club increasingly rare to find these days. We hope to see them again next season.
Cornish have now used 46 players this season, and that is already 10 more than they used in the entire unbeaten season last year. A significant number of that Championship winning squad have barely kicked a ball in anger this season, slowly recovering from long term injuries, and the exiles have been casting around to plug those gaps. This transitional period part explains the jekyll and hyde results experienced by Cornish so far in this opening season at Level 6, and it is likely to continue for the remainder of the season too, but there are familiar names back in the frame from next week, and we hope normal service will be resumed soon!