Newlyn Boy - we can do better than that. With no 1s game on the 23rd, a number of us are planning to support Bay at London Scottish. I suggest we repair to The Telegraph to watch the matches after that!

Have to have a couple in the clubhouse first to be polite but that sounds great.

That letters working Dickon, you got a score check this afternoon
on Dreckly.

And of course a mention at the Bay game.

If only you knew the performance it took to get that score out!!!

9 trys then yesterday Dickon, you must be pleased with that!.  

Looking forward to it Dickon it should be an excellent weekend. I may even have 2 pints. BoP I hope you are going to tell everyone that I had more than one pint yesterday.

I can't remember yesterday...

LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
09/02/08
LONDON CORNISH v LONDON IRISH AMATEUR

London Cornish 53 - London Irish Amateur 10

London Cornish produced yet more compelling evidence that they are the fastest improving team in London 3 South-West with this 9 try demolition of fellow exiles London Irish Amateur at the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields on Saturday. The win was achieved by 4 goals and 5 tries to a try and a penalty, some of the rugby demonstrating the superb handling and tremendous pace of which the home side have become capable. The win was the 8th in the last 10 league matches for Cornish, and the 5th straight home win.

The match began on a beautiful spring like afternoon on a perfect playing surface, the sweat dripping from the players during the warm-up a portent of things to come. Cornish had made a few changes in the pack from the side narrowly beaten on the Channel Islands, Thornton Williams given a league debut at lock in place of injured Skipper Rob Aird, Ben Shribman returning at prop to allow Ben Wheeler to switch to his favoured position of hooker in place of the injured Will Carew-Gibbs, and Will Ho at long last returning from injury at no 8 in place of the holidaying Chris Milne. Free scoring wing Mike Harvey also returned, Jim Strover switching to full back in place of the injured Tim Mucken. The home side actually had a wobbly start, knocking on the kick-off and then conceding a penalty at the first ruck, the kick slotted to give Irish a 3-0 lead after a mere minute. It did not take long for black & golds to strike back, centre Henry Mitchell hitting a great line on 5 minutes to crash through on half-way, hand off the full back and dive over under the posts, fly half Dan Pollard adding the extras. It was quickly apparent that the huge Cornish front 5 were far too strong for their visitors, only fine work by the Irish no 8 limiting the damage in the early exchanges. Pollard angled kicks all round the pitch to keep his pack moving forward, and from one of these on 11 minutes, Cornish pinched the Irish lineout on their 22. Two phases saw Mitchell again demonstrate real power to break the first line defence and carry the cover over with him to crash across the whitewash by the posts, Pollard taking the lead out to 14-3. The next 15 minutes saw Cornish concede a series of penalties, two of which the visiting kicker pulled wide of the posts. Their 10 had revealed a prodigious boot in open play, but it was noted that though the bullets flew a long way, the trigger took a while to pull. The home side had already shown an ability to break the Irish defence, and with Rod Petre, Skipper Mike Allewell and Ho competing well at the breakdown, Irish were limited to trying to roll Cornish back, a tactic for which the home side were well prepared. On 26 minutes another break freed up left wing Harvey, who needs no invitation to ignite the afterburners. No hands were laid on him as he seared clear of the cover and round under the posts to give his kicker the easy task of making the score 21-3. Irish continued to mount a robust defence, much of it right on the edge of legality, but West Countrymen are not likely to be intimidated by such tactics and Cornish retained their discipline. The referee had his work cut out to see the 'afters' at most breakdowns, the match simmering throughout. He did well to keep his cards in his pocket for the duration, most of the hand to hand combat sorted out by the players, neither side prepared to take a step backwards! On 38 minutes Pollard angled a spiralling kick away from the Irish defence from left to right into the visitors 22. First on hand was the Irish 10, but he was closed down by right wing Bramble, who charged down the clearance attempt and gleefully snaffled the rebound to touch down wide right. For once Pollard missed the conversion attempt but the half time whistle went on a 26-3 lead for the home side.

Discipline was the watchword for Cornish at the break, the home side having been dominant in most aspects of play. Carefully using Pete Calvert and Williams at lock to gain good lineout ball, the stream of decent possession was not thrown wide off first phase, but built to provide the backs with more space. The front row of Shribman, Allewell and James Turnbull continued to pressurise a tiring Irish front row and a strike was taken against the head on 44 minutes. The ball was worked from right to left and into the Irish 22 where Pollard spotted a gap and arched his way through it to score on the left flank, any half-time plans to stem the flow by Irish now out of the window. Pollard pulled the conversion narrowly wide, but now it was just a question of how many his side could get, the lead now out to 31-3. On 50 minutes scrum half Mike Dardis worked a blind side move inside the Irish half. As Pollard worked the ball wide he was hit by a cynical, late shoulder charge, the impact driving him into the ground and ending his match instantly. The referee did not pick up the incident but when play broke down all hell broke loose as Cornish had clearly identified the miscreant. Calling both Skippers in for a chat, the referee again did well to keep the lid on the situation. Keith Thompson switched to fly half in place of Pollard, Adam McVicar coming on at outside centre. Cornish exacted the perfect revenge, a rolling maul from the ensuing lineout driven up to the line where former St Ives man Wheeler plunged over the line to score. Open side Petre struck the conversion attempt well but across the posts. Cornish immediately made a double change, former Swansea lock Joe Purcell coming on for Williams and Mark Williams-Jones on at 8 for Ho; both made a positive impact on their arrival. This rearrangement gave Cornish another lineout option, one they used superbly as the game wore on. Waiting for his moment, Petre had trained his beady eye on the guilty party responsible for seeing Pollard off the park. When the Irishman received a pass on half-way, he was poleaxed by a superb, shuddering hit that slammed him into the ground and drew an appreciative gasp from the watching crowd, sweet revenge indeed. Ulsterman Thompson was also clearly enjoying the challenge of playing at 10 against his countrymen, a role he filled on many occasions for the 2s last season. Using his full range of passing he encouraged his fellow backs to attack from deep, McVicar breaking through on a number of occasions to link with Mitchell, Bramble and Strover. This was a feature of all of the remaining game, the visiting pack seemingly finding injuries at every breakdown as they tried to slow the pace of the game in the heat. Finally, on 57 minutes, Irish gained some reward for their efforts when they managed to find room from a ruck inside the home 22 for one of their forwards to cross the line untouched, the conversion added to reduce the arrears to 36-10. Any possible chance of a comeback was quickly snuffed out as Cornish again broke from deep on 63 minutes. The ball was worked through to full back Strover, arriving on the crash, and then quickly recycled for Dardis to gain due reward for his efforts. The conversion was missed to leave the sides 31 points apart. With the visiting set piece under such pressure, Thompson drove his side back inside the Irish 22 on 70 minutes. Irish had the 5 metre scrum but the ball shot out of the back and across the tryline for Dardis to pounce and land a poachers try. He attempted the conversion himself; the less said about the attempt the better! The final try came in the closing minutes when Cornish worked a blindside move to give Bramble the chance to exploit his supreme finishing skills. He went outside one man and weaved between another two to round and score under the posts to bring up the half century. Thompson drop kicked the conversion to bring the curtain down on another decent days work by the Cornishmen.

These appear to be two clubs heading in opposite directions, London Irish Amateur having lost each of their last 9 league matches. This was by far the most points they have conceded on that run and they will want to quickly put this behind them in the remaining 6 matches. They are only 4 points clear of the drop zone now and with matches against all of the sides beneath them to come, those games take on greater significance now. They were a decent bunch back at The Telegraph and will not fail for team spirit. Cornish need to carry this form into their remaining matches to ensure they continue their climb. Whatever the results in those matches, this young group of players seem to be really enjoying their rugby and in this game were a pleasure to watch.

LCRFC – Jim Strover, George Bramble, Keith Thompson, Henry Mitchell, Mike Harvey, Dan Pollard (Adam McVicar), Mike Dardis, Will Ho (Mark Williams-Jones), Rod Petre, Mike Allewell (Capt.), Thornton Williams (Joe Purcell), Pete Calvert, James Turnbull, Ben Wheeler, Ben Shribman.

Sounds like a team you would want to play for or watch. Great stuff Dickon.

Game of 2 halves for the Duchy this weekend; LC, Bay and Pirates run in 180+ points between them, Druth & Lanson win, Penryn get a win at last but Snives can't raise a team and Hayle get mullahed.

Difficult game tomorrow Dickon away at Cobham are you up for it,no injuries?.Be a big plus if you can pull it off.Good luck.

Tough day at the office for us today with a much changed side going down 29-3 at Cobham, after holding them to 3-3 at half time. They are unbeaten at home in over 2 years and have only lost 1 league game at all in that time so no disgrace, but players know we could have run them much closer. Full match report to follow tomorrow..

So we shall be seeing you on Saturday then Dickon

If we can find it,can you give us some idea of how to get there Dickon please.

I thought Dickon was coming to the game.

Forgot that, it must be my age.We'll find out next`Saturday.

I will be there on Saturday chaps - looking forward to it!

LONDON 3 SOUTH-WEST
16/02/08
COBHAM v LONDON CORNISH

Cobham 29 - London Cornish 3

A strong 2nd half showing eventually rewarded champions-elect Cobham with both points at Fairmile Lane on Saturday, the visitors unable to match the step up in gear that their hosts found after the sides had turned round 3 all at the interval. The home side triumphed by 3 goals, a try and a penalty to a penalty to cement their place at the top of London 3 South-West.

Cornish showed 6 changes from the side so dominant in the previous weeks encounter, a number of regulars from the powerful 2nd XV given their chance to show what they could do. In came Simon Wood, Rob Webster, Andrew Lea (for his league debut), Pete Drewett, Darren Jordan and Graham Dodge as the visitors were without a host of regulars for a variety of reasons. The combined effect on the team was less in terms of effort than execution, the lineout in particular suffering badly from having the thrower, a jumper and two lifters changed from the previous week. Though Cornish held their own in the tight, this single aspect of the game dogged their ability to provide decent phased possession to the backline, and this coupled with the affect on the defensive structure combined to enable their well drilled hosts to eventually wear down the exiles.

On a sunny, cold day the match began on a pitch bereft of grass, a fact to which the ambitious hosts will surely attend once their magnificent looking new clubhouse is complete. With little advantage in the conditions, Cobham constantly probed the blindside as their excellent scrum half strove to create gaps. However, with Will Ho restored to his favoured position of 6 and the feisty Mark Williams-Jones at 8, Cornish had this angle covered. The early exchanges were well contested, the home side having territorial advantage without ever really looking as though they could break through. Cornish did fall off a few tackles but the covering work of fly half Dan Pollard and open side Rod Petre ensured that the damage was limited. Cobham continue to favour kicking penalties to the corner and trying the rolling maul, but once a couple of attempts foundered against a visiting side so adept at stopping these, soon abandoned the plan. The result was a more open game than most are used to seeing them play, and a far more attractive brand of rugby as a result. On 11 minutes their kicker slotted a penalty, but rather than build on their lead, the home side found they were up against a side who are in good form and who would not roll over easily. Wood, Allewell and Ben Shribman held their own at scrum time, and with Henry Mitchell hammering away up the middle, Cornish had a focal point from which they could build. Even at the breakdown the stats were even, and as the game wore on, so Cornish confidence grew. The issue for the visitors was that their malfunctioning lineout was continually preventing them from building pressure on their hosts as hard as Pete Calvert and Williams-Jones strove to take clean ball. It was no surprise that when Pollard levelled the scores on 33 minutes, it was as a result of Skipper Mike Allewell taking a strike against the head in a scrum. Within minutes Cobham lost a player to the sin-bin when he attemped to decapitate a Cornish back, the excellent referee having little choice. Though the visitors worked the ball wide to wings George Bramble and Mike Harvey, both sides defences held firm to prevent any additions to the score before half-time, the whistle going at 3-3.

It was important that Cornish held firm in the early part of the second period as they clearly had their hosts rattled, but within minutes this plan went out of the window as the ever-threatening home 9 finally dummied his way through under the sticks to give his side the lead, the conversion added. With their numbers restored to the maximum, the home side stepped up considerably on their first half showing, and Cornish were reduced to 14 men on 47 minutes when a forward was binned for a blatant body check. Astonishingly, Cornish held firm in the tight even when down a man, the next score actually being fashioned out wide after an interchange between forwards and backs again freed up the home scrum half to score, the kick from in front of the posts shanked badly wide. Despite a huge tackle count from the likes of Pollard, Dardis and Allewell, the visitors could not stem the tide as every time the ball went into touch, it was virtually guaranteed to end up on the Cobham side. On 58 minutes Cornish won a penalty in front of the posts, but eschewed the kick and went for the corner. Finally winning a lineout they marched their hosts back with the rolling maul but inexplicably a forward broke away from the back of the maul as it powered toward the line, was isolated and turned over. To compound the felony, a further converted score was added on 59 minutes as first up tackles were missed to allow a home back to scoot over under the posts. Cornish used the opportunity to bring on prop Lea for his debut and he, like Wood before him, acquitted himself well. Drewett also appeared for Petre shortly after, and though the likes of McVicar and Dodge probed for space, the home tackling held firm. A battered Pollard took a break on 64 minutes, club stalwart Jordan replacing him at fly-half, but he was powerless to prevent the final score as a Cobham forward rumbled over from a ruck close in, a tired Cornish side having given everything at this point. Though Cobham were desperate to add to their tally, it was Cornish who actually came closest to scoring in the closing period when Bramble was tackled into touch yards from the line as he arrowed down the touchline. When the final whistle went, Cornish had given everything but came up short in a few key areas, the home side worthy winners though perhaps not quite by the difference of the scoreline. A word on the referee, a fellow from the London North-West region; he gave clear, concise decisions, was utterly in control and had a fine game.

Cobham seem destined for a second successive title as results elsewhere went their way, but PJF will keep them honest to the end and this may help prevent any complacency in their ranks. They have attracted some very fine players to the club, many of whom have played at standards way above London 3 South-West, and they will surely be a handful at the next level up next season. Cornish have excellent relations with their players and supporters alike, and we wish them well as they continue to carry all before them. This was always a tough ask for Cornish, this particular weekend afflicted by a large number of absentees across the 1s squad. The players who came in did very well and some will certainly feature again, and with availability for the remaining league weekends excellent, the coaching team will have some real selection dilemmas! With DoR Moon happy to give his entire 1s squad the week off, the side will reconvene in 10 days time refreshed and reinforced for the final stage of the season.

LCRFC – Graham Dodge, George Bramble, Adam McVicar, Henry Mitchell, Mike Harvey, Dan Pollard (Darren Jordan), Mike Dardis, Mark Williams-Jones, Rod Petre (Pete Drewett), Will Ho, Rob Webster, Pete Calvert, Simon Wood (Andrew Lea), Mike Allewell (Capt.), Ben Shribman.

Dickon, looking forward to meeting you on sat, make yourself known, and thanks for the match reports ,excellent as always