Well done the L.C.  

Absolutely.

Good luck for the new season Dickon,hope to meet up with you again soon.   Enjoy your rugby.

Thanks Merlin. It all starts today at KCS Old Boys in London 3 S/W. Am tense and nervous so thats a good sign! Will report back here later tonight. Hope the game your end is a cracker!

Thanks Merlin. It all starts today at KCS Old Boys in London 3 S/W. Am tense and nervous so thats a good sign! Will report back here later tonight. Hope the game your end is a cracker!

Go Cornish!

KCS Old Boys 10 - London Cornish 15

Great start to the season Dickon,have you got a report for us?.

Sorry - forum wouldnt load on Sunday!

LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
13/09/08
KCS OLD BOYS v LONDON CORNISH

KCS Old Boys 10 - London Cornish 15

A rusty performance by both sides saw the visitors deservedly emerge with the points with a win by a goal, a try and a penalty to a goal and a penalty at the Arthur Road HQ of KCS Old Boys on Saturday. The difference between the two sides was up front, where the home pack were continually under pressure in the tight as the lumpy exiles front 5 caused them plenty of problems at scrum time.

Cornish had experimented with a variety of options in the pre season as they tested their strength in depth, but only two players new to the club were given debuts at this point in the season, prop Dave Theobald having joined from South Leicester and wing Rich Hart from London Scottish. Debuts were also given to open side Humphrey Bowles, who had worked his way up through the sides at the club in recent seasons, and veteran full back Crawford Henderson, the former Quins and Scotland A international who had spent much of the previous season in the 2s. In the absence of injured Skipper Rob Aird, Ben Wheeler moved to blind side and Keith Thompson lead the team. Both sides would have a little surprised to note pitch side temperatures in the 70s and no breeze blowing across a perfect surface. The early exchanges were very edgy, KCS seeming to prefer to test the visiting back 3 with angled kicks while the visitors tried to build attacks closer in. The home side missed an early penalty given for not releasing, and both sides struggled with the referee's interpretation of this aspect of the law, though the approach was applied consistently. Gradually, Cornish began to gain territorial dominance, occasionally punctured by the home sides young and dangerous backline trying to break from deep.On one occasion an interception saw a home back burst clear but he seemed to panic when met by Henderson and grassed his attempted pass. On 18 minutes the exiles gained their reward when bullocking runs by no 8 Joe Purcell and locks Jay Stirrett and Pete Calvert forced the home side into retreat deep inside their 22 on the right flank as Cornish attacked. Scrum half Mike Dardis, already demonstrating fine form at this stage of the season, saw a gap, darted through and dotted down around a third of the way from the posts. Fly half Dan Pollard saw his conversion attempt slide away from the posts. Cornish turned up the wick for a period now, a break down the left flank inspired by a powerful arrowing Henderson break only narrowly failing to find the onrushing Jim Strover in support. Now the Arthur Hunt Cup holders saw territory ceded through a series of penalties against them, one eventually costing points on 32 minutes when the home kicker found his range from some distance out to the right. For the remaining minutes of the half, the pattern would be repeated with the only difference that the home kicker failed with two further penalty attempts. At the break the general consensus was that the scoreline was about right, the visitors 5-3 to the good.

Though no changes were made at the break, Cornish were forced into one early in the second period when Club Captain James Turnbull succumbed having suffered a nasty facial injury in the previous weeks encounter. Wheeler switched to prop and a further debut was given to Paul Minter at 6, another player who has worked his way up the sides at LCRFC in recent seasons. The battle at the breakdown was increasingly now being won by Cornish as Bowles in particular pinched plenty of KCS ball on the floor. On 49 minutes Cornish produced the best moment of the match when a Dardis break was supported by Thompson, hooker Will Carew-Gibbs (a welcome return from injury sustained in January) and Purcell before finally finding its way to Stirrett to jubilantly dive over half way in from touch on the left hand side. The score was worthy of the maximum and Pollard made no mistake to add the extras and take the lead out to 12-3. With the home side increasingly finding problems in the tight, clearances were scrambled and territory remained with Cornish now. On a number of occasions only the last pass prevented the visitors from extending their lead as first Wheeler and then Mitchell drive close to the line. One comedy moment saw Humphreys break from the back of a skewing scrum to dive over a line and plant the ball down for a 'score', only to find that the line he had crossed was the 5 metre line. A delighted KCS scrummie simply bent down, plucked the ball away and cleared it! Though the home side had their moments, and their young wing looked dangerous when he received the ball though well marshalled by Hart, they seemed to rely on kick and chase tactics and these were often returned with interest by Henderson, Hart and Strover. One such a kick saw Henderson arrive at the ball milliseconds before the onrushing KCS centre, a bone crunching collision seeing the Cornish full back bounce his man to continue leaving the oppo back prostrate on the ground, fortunately not for long. A further change now saw Stirrett succumb to an ankle injury, Purcell moving to lock and Chris Milne coming on in his favoured position of no 8. Cornish didnt quite have their timing right in midfield, Henry Mitchell running a number of great lines but often not able to connect with Pollard, sure fire early season issues. On 73 minutes a superb burst by skipper Thompson saw him weave through on half way to find wing Strover in support. As he attempted to chip the full back he was checked and a penalty given. Pollard pulled the attempt narrowly wide of the posts as both kickers continued to demonstrate early seasonitis with the boot. Pollard did not have to wait long to make amends, a penalty awarded smack in front of the posts on 77 minutes for diving over a ruck gave him the opportunity to stretch the lead to 15-3. A final change saw Cornish bring on Graham Dodge on the wing for Strover. With time seemingly up, KCS launched one final foray into the far left corner. As Cornish retreated at a penalty the young KCS wing burrowed his way over to get the ball onto the line for a score, the conversion a decent one from some way out. With no more time left on the clock, the final whistle went on a 15-10 win for the exiles.

KCS have promoted some of their title winning U21 side into their 1s this season and could be a handful for sides out wide this season. They continue to be fine hosts and a decent bunch, the game played in excellent spirit as both clubs continue to enjoy a decent relationship. There seemed a general consensus that this wasn't a great match to watch as both sides were very rusty, but Cornish will take the win mindful of the dreadful start they had in their opening 6 matches at this level last season. This is a side that gets stronger and stronger as the season develops so a decent start is crucial, though no one is under any illusions about how tough this division will be this season. With wins for all 4 sides on the day, Cornish could see training attendances continue to climb, though the 1s squad will want to work in isolation to iron out the creases in their early season form.

LCRFC – Crawford Henderson, Jim Strover (Graham Dodge), Keith Thompson (Capt.), Henry Mitchell, Richard Hart, Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, Chris Milne, Humphrey Bowles, Ben Wheeler, Jay Stirrett, Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald, Will Carew-Gibbs, James Turnbull (Paul Minter).

Dickon, another good report. I thought Dr. Who might have been called for in the second half with the injury to James Tunbull and talk of a Dardis break.

It is good to hear that your two clubs can have a bit of fun after the match. Long may that continue.

Good luck to-day Dickon against Guildford.  

Good draw yesterday Dickon against Guildford you must be pleased.

LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
20/09/08
LONDON CORNISH v GUILDFORD

London Cornish 17 - Guildford 17

London Cornish very nearly pulled off a famous victory in this match against a side they had never played at league level. The fully merited point hoisted Cornish into the highest place in the clubs history, but all watching will know that there should be plenty more to come from the exiles as the season progresses, the match seeing the hosts land two goals and a penalty to a goal and two tries.

Two changes to the starting XV from the previous week saw Mike Allewell return at 7 in place of Humphrey Bowles, who was away with work, and Graham Dodge step up from the bench in place of the holidaying Crawford Henderson. The bench included two debutants in Australian James Brennan from the Sydney based Old Ignatians RFC, and Tom Rockhill a back signed from Redingsians.

A beautiful, warm late summers day greeted the sides as they stepped on an immaculate pitch in a match for which Cornish had landed a sponsor for the very first time, the honour bestowed upon the company True North. Within a minute of the start a penalty was awarded to Cornish for holding on, a warning about the referee's interpretation of this law both sides were slow to heed for most of the match. Though the kick was some way out, Dan Pollard kept his head and slotted the kick to give his side the early lead. In these early minutes Guildford appeared to have an edge at scrum time, and this gave them a platform to launch a series of structured attacks down the Cornish left flank as their youthful backline sought to break through. 12 minutes on the clock and they had their reward. Cornish failed to drop a driving maul from gaining some distance inside their 22, and when the Gs scrum half broke blind he put his wing in to scamper over out wide. The conversion attempt was not close but the visitors had a lead they would not relinquish again. At this stage of the game, the side who had dropped from London 1 to London 3 in successive seasons looked by far the sharper and more inventive, Cornish still slumbering in a kind of ' we are just grateful to be here' mode. It only took Guildford 10 more minutes to add to their lead, a poor clearance kick was even more poorly chased by the exiles back line, allowing the exceptionally quick visiting back three the opportunity to run in wide right, again the conversion attempt sliding well wide. A further setback saw Cornish lock Jay Stirrett leave the field with a broken hand on the half hour mark, though Brennan was the ideal replacement. Gradually, the home side gained belief that they are more than capable at this level, helped by a tactical switch of sides by the two props Dave Theobald and James Turnbull, the result of which was that the tight five now began to assert an increasing pressure on their opposite numbers. Scrum half Mike Dardis had twice found his box kicks spilled by a hesitant Guildford winger, and on 34 minutes Cornish grabbed the lifeline that changed the course of the match. Pollard launched a bomb from right to left just inside the visitors half. The ball was spilled and then regathered by the Gs wing, who threw a looping hospital pass to his full back. A scrambled clearance was kicked against one of the Gs own players, regathered by the exiles and switched into the arms of flying wing Rich Hart, who burst away from the cover at the angle and then straightended to finish under the posts. Pollard added the coversion and from nowhere Cornish were level. Belief now coursed through the veins of every player in black and gold, penalties now being won as Allewell in particular forced a series of turnovers. On 38 minutes a beautifully executed back move saw skipper Keith Thompson arc between two Gs backs on half way and burst up to the 22. Drawing his man he slipped the ball to full back Dodge joining the line at pace, and as he attempted to switch the ball inside to wing Jim Strover for the scoring pass, a superb cover tackle prevented the pass reaching its man, the ball scrambled to safety. When the whistle went at the break, it was the visitors with their hands on their heads sucking in the air as their hosts had suddenly grabbed the initiative and upped the ante!

Cornish took the initiative into the third quarter of the match and Henry Mitchell began making some serious inroads into Gs territory, often supported by lock Joe Purcell and blind side Ben Wheeler. With Pete Calvert continuing to pilfer Gs lineout ball, the lions share of possession fell the exiles way. Dogged defence and an ability to swiftly counter attack kept Cornish at bay, though the constant inability of the Gs speedy right wing to catch often put his side on the back foot. 10 minutes into the half Cornish suffered another setback when powerful no 8 Purcell took a knock to the knee and had to be helped from the field. A swift reshuffle saw Wheeler move to 8 and Pete Drewett get his first action of the regular season at blind side. The pressure the exiles were exterting on the visiting backline saw a number of words exchanged between heated Gs players, their experienced full back trying to settle his younger counterparts. Precocious talent can have its negatives however, and what good ball his side did get was being hampered by grassed passes or knock ons. A pattern set in where one side would attack, become isolated, concede a penalty, kick to touch and the whole pattern would repeat itself. Neither side seemed to be able to make the vital breakthrough until on 58 minutes Gs kicked long down the right flank, the ball seemingly innocuously rolling toward the Cornish tryline. Full back Dodge clearly felt he had more time than he did, the Gs right wing closing him down before he could clear the ball. As other players appeared on the scene and over the ball, the referee indicated a penalty against the exiles and then a penalty try, the lack of protest from the home side betraying the fair call. The extras were a formality and a jubilant Gs side had the lead once more at 10-17. Back came Gs as the game in 72' heat bubbled alive. Spreading the ball left to right inside the Cornish half they fashioned room for their right wing to angle in to the corner only for Dodge to redeem himself with a fantastic cover tackle to bundle his man in to touch at the corner. The lineout was won by Brennan and the danger cleared. Now the unbeaten Cornish 3rd XV arrived in numbers down the far flank, baying on their club colleagues and exhorting them to extra effort. Cornish upped their game again, hooker Will Carew-Gibbs nailing his man at lineout time to ensure a steady stream of decent ball. Pollard worked his side down the field and Cornish won a scrum on the Gs 22. The gradual improvement in execution of set plays now came home to roost. The tight five provided perfect ball for Dardis to hit Pollard, who engineered a split second timed pass to Mitchell arriving at pace on an arc to burst through the defence and away from the despairing tackle of the full back to score to the right of the posts. Pollard slotted the extras and the scores were all level with 12 minutes left. Cornish made their final change now, bringing on Rockhill for Strover on the wing. No room for error from either side but in the dying minutes both had a kick to win the match, Gs effort from some way out falling short and wide, and the exiles effort with a minute left agonisingly shading past the left hand post. No matter - when the final whistle went it would have been difficult to split the sides and a draw did seem a fair result in a match that was a decent advertisement for games at this level.

There has clearly been no hiding from their descent from London 1 at Guildford, and there appears to be renewed determination to drive back up the leagues judging by the disappointment etched on the faces of some of their players at the final whistle. They were a good bunch back at The Telegraph and we look forward to renewing battle in the 'second leg' in the New Year! Slowly but surely the penny is beginning to drop with Cornish, this display a marked step up on that of the previous week. With each passing week selection will become more and more fun as more and more players return to the fray, few in the league having the depth of player base from which Cornish can choose, and the club already have more points after two matches in the league than they did after 6 games in their inaugral season at this level. From this week Cornish can also rely on improved training facilities, moving from unlit areas of the Park to the floodlit stadium itself. The dramatic improvement this effected last season would be very welcome in this as the division appears far tighter than it was 12 months ago!

LCRFC – Graham Dodge, Jim Strover (Tom Rockhill), Keith Thompson (Capt.), Henry Mitchell, Richard Hart, Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, Joe Purcell (Pete Drewett), Mike Allewell, Ben Wheeler, Jay Stirrett (James Brennan), Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald, Will Carew-Gibbs, James Turnbull.

Top stuff Dickon.  Will be looking at the fixture list to see when we are free to come to support your club.

London Cornish ended Bognor's long unbeaten home record with a 20-16 win in London 3 S/W coming from 10-16 down at half time. Full report tomorrow.

Nice one Dickon look forward to the report,keep it going all.

LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
27/09/08
BOGNOR v LONDON CORNISH

Bognor 16 - London Cornish 20

A fine second half fightback saw London Cornish become the first side to beat Bognor in a league match at their Hampshire Avenue HQ since December 2nd 2006, the win being deservedly achieved by two goals and a penalty to two tries and two penalties. The win consolidated the exiles in 4th place in London 3 South-West and maintained the unbeeaten start to the season.

There are few clubs in the division with the depth of resources available to Cornish, and this was amply demonstrated by the fact that no fewer than 7 of the 18 players selected last week were not available on this occasion, the changes seeing former St Ives forward Ben Wheeler move to prop in place of injured fellow Cornishman James Turnbull, Humphrey Bowles returning at 7 with Mike Allewell moving to 6. With Jay Stirrett out with a broken hand, Miran Serdarevic was given a full debut at lock, his last appearance having been for Warwickshire against Lancashire in last seasons Bill Beaumont Cup. A knee injury ruled out Joe Purcell so James Brennan moved from lock to cover the 8 slot. In the backs a virus put paid to Henry Mitchell so club stalwart Adam McVicar slotted in at 12 while hamstring strains ruled out both Tom Rockhill and Crawford Henderson, Justin York coming in on one wing and David Soar given a debut from the bench. A further debut was given to former Cornwall U21 prop Hamish Cuming whilst Frenchman Nicolas Patte was also recalled to the bench in place of the injured Pete Drewett. Lesser clubs may have struggled for fluency with so many changes, but the astute coaching team at Cornish had ensured that all of the selected players had been given game time with the 1s during the pre season so all the players knew the patterns.

For the third week running, the teams were greeted by a clear blue sky and warm weather on a very decent pitch, Bognor's facilities a credit to their committee and groundsman. A large crowd had gathered on both sides of the pitch and the game began between two sides who had never before played each other. Within two minutes Cornish had the lead, the referee ruling against a Bognor player for going off his feet at the ruck. The kick was only just inside the home half and out to the left hand side, but Dan Pollard is beginning to kick with real rhythm and he struck the ball sweetly between the posts. Bognor have had plenty of success in recent seasons and it soon became apparent that they use a couple of very large locks to peel off the back of lineouts and run at the visiting midfield, or use rolling mauls that they reset when pulled down. Though this was a smaller Cornish pack than usual, it was also a very mobile and strong one, neither side having an ascendancy in the tight in the early period. The Sussex side soon levelled the scores when Cornish were penalised for a similar offence on 5 minutes and the home kicker divided the uprights. Any thoughts Bognor had that they were in for an easy ride were dispelled on 8 minutes. Cornish pinched a lineout inside the home half and worked the ball back to scrum half Mike Dardis. He weaved around long enough to delay his pass perfectly before he hit Bowles on the pop tanking through the first line of defence and into the 22. As the full back came across the Cornish open side stepped past him and arrowed away from the covering wing to dive over the whitewash half way in to the left of the posts. A stunned home crowd saw Pollard take the lead out to 10-3. The exiles jumpers Brennan and Pete Calvert both began to extert pressure on the home lineout preventing Bognor from setting up their mauls, but both sides were regularly pinged for going off their feet at ruck time and a further kick by the Bognor 10 on 16 minutes reduced the arrears to 4. Having warned Bognor that their next indiscretion would result in card, the exiles were stunned when one was produced for a Cornish forward on 21 minutes for the same offence. Within minutes that call was brought into sharper focus, a scrum on half way wheeling to create an overlap, which was well exploited by the speedy Bognor left wing who sprinted clear to score wide left, the difficult kick going wide, but the home side now in the lead at 11-10. Worse was to follow for the visitors when an uncharacteristic hash was made of trying to run out of defence, the most surprised player seeming to be the Bognor front row who simply picked up the loose ball and advanced the two feet unnopposed to add a second score half way in from the right flank. This easier kick was also missed by the home fly half, perhaps rattled that a couple of his early clearance kicks had been charged down. Try as they might to add to their score with the territorial domination they had, the home side were stifled by strong defence and a fine performance by the visiting front row of Dave Theobald, Will Carew-Gibbs and Wheeler all of whom shared the workload in the loose. With Cornish falling off a few first up tackles in this period, two further kickable penalties were missed by the home fly half and it was a relieved exiles side who greeted the half time whistle.

A tactical substitution at the break saw blind side Patte replace Bowles with Allewell moving to 7. The inference of this change was clear, Patte a much more physical presence than his ferreting colleague. A clear change of tactics also saw the exiles moving the ball away from the breakdown and playing the game much higher up the pitch. The reward was almost instantaneous. First Wheeler and wing Rich Hart linked to drive deep inside the home 22 wide right, and then the ball was quickly recycled left for Pollard to link with Skipper Keith Thompson who sent a long cutout pass to wing York, who dashed in at the corner despite a despairing attempt to knock him into touch. The referee was on hand to award the score and the home side then found they had lost their lead, Pollard striking a superb touchline conversion to make the score 17-16 to the exiles. Though Bognor continued to hammer away around the fringes with their lumpy runners, they now found Cornish resolve stiffened, Patte making his presence felt in his own inimitable way. The penalty count was also beginning to hamper the home side whenever they entered visiting territory, a series of raking kicks from Pollard now forcing the home side to attack from deep. A Bognor forward now found himself taking a 10 minute rest for a repeated infringement, and Cornish very nearly scored again when Pollard charged down a clearance kick and regathered only to be tackled in the act of popping a pass to Thompson, the ball being cleared. Though their left wing was a constant threat with his pace, Bognor could not get him in space and when they did on one occasion in the second period, he was expertly tap tackled by the covering Hart and the ball lost. The Bognor full back also tried to attack from deep on every occasion he received the ball, but was frequently downed before he get his strong frame up to cruising speed. Frustration gradually began to get the better of a side used to being able to bully sides on their home territory, and Cornish were awarded a penalty 5 metres in from the right touchline a short distance inside the home half. With a confident approach Pollard drove his kick between the uprights and stretched the lead out to 20-16. Bognor now began forcing the game and a series of knock ons dogged their progress, some with apparent overlaps having been created. They still could not work their way inside the Cornish 22, but a further change was forced on the visitors on 63 minutes when Allewell took a knock to a knee, Wheeler switching to blind side and Cuming making his debut up front. Now the scrums began to favour the exiles, Bognor unable to control the ball when in decent field position. An incident on 70 minutes saw both sides lose a player to the bin, though in truth this was not a game worthy of 4 yellow cards. A final change saw Cornish bring on Soar for his 1s deut at full back in place of Graham Dodge, the instruction to the oncoming player clear immediately as he is an excellent kicker from hand. With time running out, Bognor won a penalty, which they drove inside the visiting 22 for one of the only times in the second period they had reached this part of the pitch. Though winning the lineout, slow ball was created and a scrum won in a similar position. To their intense frustration, the home side knocked the ball on when in a seemingly strong position, no further opportunity being given to the Sussex side whose fine home record had finally fallen to a 20-16 defeat.

Bognor are a fine addition to the London 3 South-West division, both in terms of their facilities and the way in which they host visiting clubs, Cornish staying considerable time after the game mixing with their hosts. We look forward to returning the favour in the New Year. Few sides will come to Hampshire Avenue and leave with both points this season, so this respresents an excellent afternoons work by a Cornish side shorn of many familiar names. Not only do these players return over the course of the next few weeks, Director of Rugby Dickon Moon is also working on bringing in a couple more key signings to bolster his already considerably sized squad. Showing steady improvement match on match, London Cornish are already serving notice that they are a tougher nut to crack than they were last season, the 5 points gained in the 3 matches thus far having taken 8 matches to attain last season. The players seem to be enjoying themselves too, some appalling karaoke on the journey home still ringing loud in your correspondents ears!

LCRFC – Graham Dodge (David Soar), Justin York, Keith Thompson (Capt.), Adam McVicar, Richard Hart, Dan Pollard, Mike Dardis, James Brennan, Humphrey Bowles (Nicolas Patte), Mike Allewell (Hamish Cuming), Miran Serdarevic, Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald, Will Carew-Gibbs, Ben Wheeler.

Well done, Exiles  

Proper Job Cornish Well done

4th placed London Cornish host fellow unbeaten 2nd placed outfit Chichester in London 3 S/W this afternoon. News here later!

Good luck fellas.