Despite winning their last two matches, Cobham will have come into this match recalling their last encounter at the end of last season when London Cornish defeated them 67-24. After 30 minutes of this contest there was no score, before Cobham demonstrated how far they had come this season.
The visitors got the better of the penalty count in the last ten minutes to turn the scoreline from 3-0 to 3-6 at the break. Both teams will have acknowledged it had been a pretty scrappy first half with chances being put down by both sides. There had been individual flair from both sides; Cobham's back row Nathan Spratt exploding out of his own half and full back Yiannis Loizia picking up where he left off against KCS the previous week, but there literally wasn’t much to report.
The second half was a completely different affair and within two minutes we had the first try of the match. Cobham number eight Jake McQuade powered over. Despite Tom Farrelly missing the conversion, he soon added a penalty to put Cobham 11-6 ahead.
This turn around galvanised London Cornish and they put Cobham under some considerable pressure on their own line, but a knock-on provided respite and the home side worked their way back into the visitors half.
Cobham had lost their second row Joe Goddard to injury early on and was replaced by Doug Rodman. In the second half Ant Braithwaite had come off the bench to replace the injured Luke Flower at fly half. Braithwaite featured in both of the next two Cobham tries, firstly going over himself under the posts for a converted try (18-6) and then providing a well-judged assist for Max MacDonald to go over in the corner (23-6).
This was not the result the visitors had been expecting and once again Cornish responded. Both sides lost players to yellow cards in the final ten minutes; firstly the Cornish scrum half for an infringement closely followed by Rodman, meaning the final period was played with 14 players on each side.
Cornish finally turned pressure into points when centre David Furnston burst over the line for a converted try to cut the deficit to ten points (23-13) and when McQuade assisted hooker Theo Buffini to hold-up the ball to avoid a further score, it was apparent Cornish had left their response too late.
Director of rugby Steve Pope said: “After a hard fought win last week it was very pleasing to see the boys back up their efforts away at KCS against London Cornish. We did struggle at times with maintaining the momentum today only played well in patches. Still it's a positive that over the last three matches, players have shown how they can play both very exciting football and be more measured when required. We now have a number of very tough games up to Christmas and I'm excited to see if we can build on the positive momentum the players are creating on and off of the field.”
“There were some good performances again today; Theo Buffni, Louis Porter, Nathan Spratt, Ryan Saunders, Ant Braithwaite, James Macdonald, to name but a few. It was really great to see Yanni Loz back at the club, fit, well and enjoying his rugby.”
“We have Chichester away this weekend and it will be a challenge, but one we are all very excited about. I'd like to thank the boys for their efforts and encourage them to stick at it, as they are only scratching the surface with regards to how good they can be.”
Cobham 1st XV Squad
1 Chris Lippiatt
2 Theo Buffini
3 Sam Matcham
4 Adrian Van Der Ploeg
5 Joe Goddard
6 Louis Porter
7 Nathan Spratt
8 Jake McQuade
9 Ryan Saunders (C)
10 Luke Flower
11 Max MacDonald
12 Tom Farrelly
13 James MacDonald
14 Rory Penfold
15 Yiannis Loizia
16 Luke Bliss
17 Doug Rodman
18 Ant Braithwaite
Scorers:
Tries:
No 8 Jake McQuade
No 11 Max MacDonald
No 18 Ant Braithwaite
Conversions:
No12 Tom Farrelly x 2
Penalty:
No12 Tom Farrelly
Man of the Match: Ryan Saunders
