Back
Sat 02 Mar 2019 ·  London South 1
1st XVChichester
Tries: O Low, N Hull, R Stephens, C SmartConversions: G Kimmins (4)Penalties: G Kimmins
31
26
History Calling Cornish After Victory Over Chi!
Dickon Moon4 Mar 2019 - 09:09
Share via
Ding-dong battle goes the way of the exiles to leave them within sight of one of the seasons goals.
London Cornish moved within range of one of their pre season goals when they registered a 10th victory in London 1 South at the REMPF on Saturday, the same number of wins achieved in last seasons first ever foray into this exulted level. Hitting the other 2 goals of most points collected (61 to beat) and highest league placing (8th to beat) could also be on if Cornish can eke a little improvement out of the remaining 5 matches of the season. This win was landed after a hugely entertaining encounter between 2 teams keen to play an open style, the game played out like a boxing match with the 2 sides trading scoring blows right up to the final whistle, and no more than 1 score ever separating the teams.
Chichester had come into the game in decent form, having recently downed then league leaders Brighton, and recovered from a disastrous opening to the season when they lost 7 of their first 8 league games. They brought with them a huge pack and even bigger bench, and this on a day when their hosts did not field all of their own big trucks.
On a breezy, early spring day, the exiles opened playing towards the clubhouse in the 1st half, but were unusually very slow out of the blocks. Losing their opening set pieces and also pinged for offside in midfield, the home side had not really started when they were caught out by a quick tap for a Chi back to slide over for a converted try half way in from the left hand touchline. The opening 10 minutes were punctuated by far too many knock ons by the exiles, as rusty combinations saw passes thrown with little sympathy, Chichester responding by sending raking kicks deep into the home half to force their opposition to begin again. On 12 minutes George Kimmins sent a fine rangefinder of his own deep into the Chi 22, and when the arrow was overthrown, it was snaffled by George Shirlaw. The combative back row shredded a few tackles and drove to 2 out, where the arch sniper Oli Low was on hand to drive across the line for his 4th try of the season, converted by his Skipper. Within minutes of the restart Cornish conceded a penalty on their own 10 metre line, the visiting kicker bisecting the uprights to give his side back the lead. A frantic passage of play followed, both sides keen to play an expansive game but spilling ball or kicking it away, Chi going close when they kicked dead after a counter on 19 minutes, Carew-Gibbs and Nick Goss linking to produce an exiles counter, though this was ended by another knock-on. Shirlaw was again the architect of Cornish retaking the lead 10 minutes later, another great break taking play to 5 out, before Kimmins hit Nathan Hull on a great line to slice clean through the Chi d and score under the posts, Kimmins again adding the extras. No sooner had the lead been taken by the home side, it was lost. This time the Sussex side worked a cute lineout move to send their bulky 8 crashing over for an unconverted try, them now 1 point to the good at 15-14. 7 minutes later the visitors extended the lead when their 10 dropped back in the pocket to drop a decent goal after a rare lineout steal caught Cornish on the back foot, Chi turning round 4 points to the good.
The exiles withdrew Low at the break, Jake Slade on at loose head. The battle of the centres in this match was worth the free entrance alone, all 4 lads providing a great sporting spectacle throughout. On 45 minutes, Dave Funston who combines great strength with superb balance, burst through and carried defenders with him until brought down 5 out, where Chi were pinged. Cornish kicked to Terry's Corner, and when Harry Somers claimed the lineout, the home side worked a maul to the line for scrum half Rich Stephens to break off the back and reach out to plant the ball over the line for the 3rd try converted by Kimmins. Making a second change in the pack, Cornish now brought on the returning Matt Chambers for Dave Chalkley, Shirlaw moving into the row. With maddening consistency, no sooner had Cornish claimed the lead, they lost it yet again. This time the architect was one of the Chi centres, breaking through to send their wing over, though importantly he was prevented from cutting in too far and the conversion was missed again, the score 23-21 to the visitors. A feature of the match was the amount of ball Chichester kicked, but they found a mobile back 3 of 100 cap Matt Hakes, Jamie Owen and Jack Skerritt in imperious form under the high ball. Funston, enjoying a fine return, produced another powerful run on 54 minutres, breaking the first line d down the right channel, before Chambers drove on to the shadow of the posts, and with advantage for offside, Kimmins sent a long pass right to left across the shadow of the posts to Chris Smart to evade a despairing last ditch tackle and cross for the bonus point score, once more converted from wide out by his Skip. This was Smart's last action, him having missed much of 2019 as a new parent, Caleb Gray on at 9 and Stephens reverting to centre. Cornish lost a man to the bin on 59 minutes, Chi landing the penalty and deficit now 2 at 28-26. Cornish won a penalty for holding on 61 minutes, but infuriatingly they took too long to set the lineout and were quite rightly pinged. Chi missed an ambitious long range drop goal attempt on 64 minutes, before a key passage of play took place with 10 left. Winning a scrum 5 out from the exiles line, the Chi 8 picked up at the base of a twisting scrum but headed open when blind was probably the better option. He threw a pass way behind his 10, who in turn threw a pass to the dirt on the 22, Hull diving on the loose ball and Kimmins scrambling the ball into touch, before Cornish won a penalty for the visitors going off their feet at the ruck. With a few minutes left, Slade broke a tackle on halfway, linking with Hakes to beat a man and hug the left hand touchline, only to be bundled out at the corner by an excellent cover tackle, the danger cleared. Gradually, in the closing minutes, the exiles drove Chi back, first into their half, and then into their 22 from where they attempted to run out. As they were downed in front of their posts, Slade won a penalty for holding, and Kimmins took all of the allocated time to land the penalty and close the game out at 31-26.
Expect Chichester to have assured their place in this division for next season in the next few rounds, as they play a great brand of rugby and have plenty of weapons across the park with which to land the necessary points. Besides which, matches between these 2 clubs are often belters and the decent off field relations between the 2 clubs were only enhanced here, so we look forward to seeing them again in 2019-20.
Cornish have clear targets to hit in the remaining weeks, and with the 2s also having hit form there is evidence that there are still a few new signings yet to make their appearance at the higher level. Watch this space!
Chichester had come into the game in decent form, having recently downed then league leaders Brighton, and recovered from a disastrous opening to the season when they lost 7 of their first 8 league games. They brought with them a huge pack and even bigger bench, and this on a day when their hosts did not field all of their own big trucks.
On a breezy, early spring day, the exiles opened playing towards the clubhouse in the 1st half, but were unusually very slow out of the blocks. Losing their opening set pieces and also pinged for offside in midfield, the home side had not really started when they were caught out by a quick tap for a Chi back to slide over for a converted try half way in from the left hand touchline. The opening 10 minutes were punctuated by far too many knock ons by the exiles, as rusty combinations saw passes thrown with little sympathy, Chichester responding by sending raking kicks deep into the home half to force their opposition to begin again. On 12 minutes George Kimmins sent a fine rangefinder of his own deep into the Chi 22, and when the arrow was overthrown, it was snaffled by George Shirlaw. The combative back row shredded a few tackles and drove to 2 out, where the arch sniper Oli Low was on hand to drive across the line for his 4th try of the season, converted by his Skipper. Within minutes of the restart Cornish conceded a penalty on their own 10 metre line, the visiting kicker bisecting the uprights to give his side back the lead. A frantic passage of play followed, both sides keen to play an expansive game but spilling ball or kicking it away, Chi going close when they kicked dead after a counter on 19 minutes, Carew-Gibbs and Nick Goss linking to produce an exiles counter, though this was ended by another knock-on. Shirlaw was again the architect of Cornish retaking the lead 10 minutes later, another great break taking play to 5 out, before Kimmins hit Nathan Hull on a great line to slice clean through the Chi d and score under the posts, Kimmins again adding the extras. No sooner had the lead been taken by the home side, it was lost. This time the Sussex side worked a cute lineout move to send their bulky 8 crashing over for an unconverted try, them now 1 point to the good at 15-14. 7 minutes later the visitors extended the lead when their 10 dropped back in the pocket to drop a decent goal after a rare lineout steal caught Cornish on the back foot, Chi turning round 4 points to the good.
The exiles withdrew Low at the break, Jake Slade on at loose head. The battle of the centres in this match was worth the free entrance alone, all 4 lads providing a great sporting spectacle throughout. On 45 minutes, Dave Funston who combines great strength with superb balance, burst through and carried defenders with him until brought down 5 out, where Chi were pinged. Cornish kicked to Terry's Corner, and when Harry Somers claimed the lineout, the home side worked a maul to the line for scrum half Rich Stephens to break off the back and reach out to plant the ball over the line for the 3rd try converted by Kimmins. Making a second change in the pack, Cornish now brought on the returning Matt Chambers for Dave Chalkley, Shirlaw moving into the row. With maddening consistency, no sooner had Cornish claimed the lead, they lost it yet again. This time the architect was one of the Chi centres, breaking through to send their wing over, though importantly he was prevented from cutting in too far and the conversion was missed again, the score 23-21 to the visitors. A feature of the match was the amount of ball Chichester kicked, but they found a mobile back 3 of 100 cap Matt Hakes, Jamie Owen and Jack Skerritt in imperious form under the high ball. Funston, enjoying a fine return, produced another powerful run on 54 minutres, breaking the first line d down the right channel, before Chambers drove on to the shadow of the posts, and with advantage for offside, Kimmins sent a long pass right to left across the shadow of the posts to Chris Smart to evade a despairing last ditch tackle and cross for the bonus point score, once more converted from wide out by his Skip. This was Smart's last action, him having missed much of 2019 as a new parent, Caleb Gray on at 9 and Stephens reverting to centre. Cornish lost a man to the bin on 59 minutes, Chi landing the penalty and deficit now 2 at 28-26. Cornish won a penalty for holding on 61 minutes, but infuriatingly they took too long to set the lineout and were quite rightly pinged. Chi missed an ambitious long range drop goal attempt on 64 minutes, before a key passage of play took place with 10 left. Winning a scrum 5 out from the exiles line, the Chi 8 picked up at the base of a twisting scrum but headed open when blind was probably the better option. He threw a pass way behind his 10, who in turn threw a pass to the dirt on the 22, Hull diving on the loose ball and Kimmins scrambling the ball into touch, before Cornish won a penalty for the visitors going off their feet at the ruck. With a few minutes left, Slade broke a tackle on halfway, linking with Hakes to beat a man and hug the left hand touchline, only to be bundled out at the corner by an excellent cover tackle, the danger cleared. Gradually, in the closing minutes, the exiles drove Chi back, first into their half, and then into their 22 from where they attempted to run out. As they were downed in front of their posts, Slade won a penalty for holding, and Kimmins took all of the allocated time to land the penalty and close the game out at 31-26.
Expect Chichester to have assured their place in this division for next season in the next few rounds, as they play a great brand of rugby and have plenty of weapons across the park with which to land the necessary points. Besides which, matches between these 2 clubs are often belters and the decent off field relations between the 2 clubs were only enhanced here, so we look forward to seeing them again in 2019-20.
Cornish have clear targets to hit in the remaining weeks, and with the 2s also having hit form there is evidence that there are still a few new signings yet to make their appearance at the higher level. Watch this space!
Further reading
Team Sponsors
