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Sat 28 Sep 2019 · London 1 South
1st XVChichester
Tries: J Owen, D Funston, D Phoenix (3), E CarneConversions: T Whelan (4)Penalties: T Whelan (3)
47
40
Cornish Win Leaves Room for Improvement!
Dickon Moon29 Sep 2019 - 20:17
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Exiles land the bonus point win, but switch off when job done.
A thrilling match of the sort that spectators love, but that gives coaches sleepless nights saw London Cornish and Chichester share 12 tries in a 47-40 home win at the REMPF in London 1 South on Saturday. As ever, the score doesn't tell the full story, as Cornish conceded 14 points in 3 minutes of injury time at the end of the match, as the visitors successfully chased down the losing bonus point, but the exiles will still take plenty from a match in which they lost a player to injury in the opening play, and then somehow managed to raise 3 cheers for Chiswick in the post match tunnel!!
The match was played on a dry, overcast day on a pitch clearly refreshed by plenty of midweek rain, Cornish playing towards the clubhouse end in the 1st half. The best laid plans Cornish had hatched were impeded at the kick-off, for in their opening attack Chi scored by the posts as 2 of the exiles players clash heads in midfield, both players cut. Hooker Will Carew-Gibbs fared worst, the cut by his eye ending his game before he had even touched the ball, forcing a rejig that saw part-time hooker Niko Mirosevic-Sorgo enter the field long enough for the late arriving former Penryn front row Tony Pellow to complete his warm up and appear a couple of minutes later. The injuries seemed to unsettle the exiles, and Chi dominated the opening quarter firing into their hosts and winning a series of penalties, all of which they kicked to the corner. Their maul was repeatedly repelled, but just as they thought they had an overlap, Jamie Owen intercepted and the danger was cleared. With a dominant scrummage throughout, Mark O'Leary, Pellow and Dave Theobald in command, Cornish had a platform to work their way back into the game, and after weathering the storm for 20 minutes, they struck with their first attack. A hasty clearance kick was fielded by Matt Hakes, who beat a man and released Dave Funston to drive deep into the Chi 22. Debutant Andy Munro-Lott (AML) fed fly-half Tom Whelan, and his beautifully floated pass gave Owen the opportunity to stroll over wide right for an unconverted try. If the injuries unsettled the exiles, the try had the reverse effect and now they switched on. A multi-phase attack on 23 minutes lead by no 8 Matt Chambers took play to the 22, where Cornish won a scrum. A set play at the scrum gave full back Ed Carne the room to hit a gap and smash his way over for a try converted by Whelan. No territory was with the home side, and on the half hour mark they struck again when Chi attempted an injudicious counter from their 22, Dan Pheonix intercepting and having a simple run in to score half-way in from the left hand touchline, the score not improved at 17-7 to Cornish. Chi now responded, their rampaging lock hitting a great line on half-way before sending his right wing clear, the lad caught on the line by Hakes but Cornish pinged and losing a man to the bin. Chi kicked to the corner, but when they again could not move their maul, they went blind only for the same lock to be injured, and a scrum awarded 5 out. When the exiles were caught offside in midfield at the set piece, the visitors again elected to kick to the corner, but this time their lineout throw was overthrown. It landed in the arms of Sam Matanle, and the open side now took off, sprinting from deep inside his own 22 over half-way, before offloading to fellow back row Cameron Crozier him throwing a basketball pass to the supporting Funston to complete a lightening long distance bonus point try (pictured), converted by Whelan. Despite one further Chi attempt to roll a maul, which Cornish forced into touch, the half-time whistle sounded with the home side 24-7 to the good.
With a freshening breeze now at their backs, Cornish would hope to gain more territory in the 2nd period, but they were jolted by a score from their opponents just 3 minutes in. An exiles clearance kick seemed well marshalled, but the young Chi full back had other ideas, stepping his way thru before inching a perfectly weighted grubber for a fellow Chi back to gather and dive over for an unconverted try. In a portent of what was to follow in the last 3 minutes of the match, at the restart Chi worked room for their centre to break clean away, draw the last man and send his team mate away for a converted try under the posts, the score now 24-19, the visitors right back in it. 10 minutes into the second half, it was Matanle who lead the response, him linking with Phoenix to take play into the Chi half where the visitors were pinged for a deliberate knock-on, their wing binned and Whelan adding the 3. With a new backline becoming more familiar with each other, Cornish struck again 5 minutes later when Whelan hit Phoenix on a fantastic angle, the centre arrowing his run away from the cover to dive over wide right, his fly half producing a howitzer conversion to take the lead out to 34-19. The visitors needed to be next to score next to stop the game going away from them, and this sense of urgency saw them twice win penalties before sending one of their number in from close range for their bonus point try, this also converted. With both sides running everything from everywhere, the match resembled 7s for a period now, Cornish next to score on 66 minutes when, following a Pete Calvert rumble, James La Broy burst a tackle, linking with Whelan and then Funston to draw the full back and send Phoenix over for his hat-trick try, converted by Whelan, the score 41-26. When Chi responded with another counter, AML won a penalty for holding 5 out for the danger to be cleared. With 10 minutes on the clock, another La Broy claim at a lineout launched a massive rolling maul, halted illegally by Chi for Whelan to add the 3. This score precipitated a couple of changes, Chambers replaced by Mirosevic-Sorgo, and AML by Vaughan. On 72 minutes Funston made another outside break, his inside ball to Owen finding the Sussex side offside again, Whelan stretching the lead out to 47-26 with another well struck penalty. With time almost up, Cornish seemed to switch off completely, and Chi seized their opportunity to land 2 long range converted tries, the last one with the referee indicating last play, putting gloss on a well contested game in which they had played a full part.
These 2 clubs know each other well, and there are strong relationships on and off the pitch between them, reinforced at the post match festivities. Like Cornish, Chi are regenerating their squad, so their performance understandably bore similarities with the exiles, a mix of the sublime and the ridiculous! They will win plenty of matches in their turn at this level, and we look forward to our visit to Oaklands post the break.
Cornish continue to build the squad, announcing after this match the capture of former Launceston, Taunton and Cornwall lock Duncan Hales from January, former Taunton no 8 Sam Richardson from the end of October, former Clifton centre Christian Wright with immediate effect, and the return of back row Claude Springer from Westcombe Park. The DoR promises more to follow, so these are certainly exciting times at LCRFC!
The match was played on a dry, overcast day on a pitch clearly refreshed by plenty of midweek rain, Cornish playing towards the clubhouse end in the 1st half. The best laid plans Cornish had hatched were impeded at the kick-off, for in their opening attack Chi scored by the posts as 2 of the exiles players clash heads in midfield, both players cut. Hooker Will Carew-Gibbs fared worst, the cut by his eye ending his game before he had even touched the ball, forcing a rejig that saw part-time hooker Niko Mirosevic-Sorgo enter the field long enough for the late arriving former Penryn front row Tony Pellow to complete his warm up and appear a couple of minutes later. The injuries seemed to unsettle the exiles, and Chi dominated the opening quarter firing into their hosts and winning a series of penalties, all of which they kicked to the corner. Their maul was repeatedly repelled, but just as they thought they had an overlap, Jamie Owen intercepted and the danger was cleared. With a dominant scrummage throughout, Mark O'Leary, Pellow and Dave Theobald in command, Cornish had a platform to work their way back into the game, and after weathering the storm for 20 minutes, they struck with their first attack. A hasty clearance kick was fielded by Matt Hakes, who beat a man and released Dave Funston to drive deep into the Chi 22. Debutant Andy Munro-Lott (AML) fed fly-half Tom Whelan, and his beautifully floated pass gave Owen the opportunity to stroll over wide right for an unconverted try. If the injuries unsettled the exiles, the try had the reverse effect and now they switched on. A multi-phase attack on 23 minutes lead by no 8 Matt Chambers took play to the 22, where Cornish won a scrum. A set play at the scrum gave full back Ed Carne the room to hit a gap and smash his way over for a try converted by Whelan. No territory was with the home side, and on the half hour mark they struck again when Chi attempted an injudicious counter from their 22, Dan Pheonix intercepting and having a simple run in to score half-way in from the left hand touchline, the score not improved at 17-7 to Cornish. Chi now responded, their rampaging lock hitting a great line on half-way before sending his right wing clear, the lad caught on the line by Hakes but Cornish pinged and losing a man to the bin. Chi kicked to the corner, but when they again could not move their maul, they went blind only for the same lock to be injured, and a scrum awarded 5 out. When the exiles were caught offside in midfield at the set piece, the visitors again elected to kick to the corner, but this time their lineout throw was overthrown. It landed in the arms of Sam Matanle, and the open side now took off, sprinting from deep inside his own 22 over half-way, before offloading to fellow back row Cameron Crozier him throwing a basketball pass to the supporting Funston to complete a lightening long distance bonus point try (pictured), converted by Whelan. Despite one further Chi attempt to roll a maul, which Cornish forced into touch, the half-time whistle sounded with the home side 24-7 to the good.
With a freshening breeze now at their backs, Cornish would hope to gain more territory in the 2nd period, but they were jolted by a score from their opponents just 3 minutes in. An exiles clearance kick seemed well marshalled, but the young Chi full back had other ideas, stepping his way thru before inching a perfectly weighted grubber for a fellow Chi back to gather and dive over for an unconverted try. In a portent of what was to follow in the last 3 minutes of the match, at the restart Chi worked room for their centre to break clean away, draw the last man and send his team mate away for a converted try under the posts, the score now 24-19, the visitors right back in it. 10 minutes into the second half, it was Matanle who lead the response, him linking with Phoenix to take play into the Chi half where the visitors were pinged for a deliberate knock-on, their wing binned and Whelan adding the 3. With a new backline becoming more familiar with each other, Cornish struck again 5 minutes later when Whelan hit Phoenix on a fantastic angle, the centre arrowing his run away from the cover to dive over wide right, his fly half producing a howitzer conversion to take the lead out to 34-19. The visitors needed to be next to score next to stop the game going away from them, and this sense of urgency saw them twice win penalties before sending one of their number in from close range for their bonus point try, this also converted. With both sides running everything from everywhere, the match resembled 7s for a period now, Cornish next to score on 66 minutes when, following a Pete Calvert rumble, James La Broy burst a tackle, linking with Whelan and then Funston to draw the full back and send Phoenix over for his hat-trick try, converted by Whelan, the score 41-26. When Chi responded with another counter, AML won a penalty for holding 5 out for the danger to be cleared. With 10 minutes on the clock, another La Broy claim at a lineout launched a massive rolling maul, halted illegally by Chi for Whelan to add the 3. This score precipitated a couple of changes, Chambers replaced by Mirosevic-Sorgo, and AML by Vaughan. On 72 minutes Funston made another outside break, his inside ball to Owen finding the Sussex side offside again, Whelan stretching the lead out to 47-26 with another well struck penalty. With time almost up, Cornish seemed to switch off completely, and Chi seized their opportunity to land 2 long range converted tries, the last one with the referee indicating last play, putting gloss on a well contested game in which they had played a full part.
These 2 clubs know each other well, and there are strong relationships on and off the pitch between them, reinforced at the post match festivities. Like Cornish, Chi are regenerating their squad, so their performance understandably bore similarities with the exiles, a mix of the sublime and the ridiculous! They will win plenty of matches in their turn at this level, and we look forward to our visit to Oaklands post the break.
Cornish continue to build the squad, announcing after this match the capture of former Launceston, Taunton and Cornwall lock Duncan Hales from January, former Taunton no 8 Sam Richardson from the end of October, former Clifton centre Christian Wright with immediate effect, and the return of back row Claude Springer from Westcombe Park. The DoR promises more to follow, so these are certainly exciting times at LCRFC!
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