LONDON CORNISH 27-0 TRINITY
There were so many ‘ifs’ and ‘shoulds’ that could be used but these words are never helpful. The facts speak for themselves, and Trinity were not at the races today. In so many matches this season they have found a way to win from difficult situations. This they could not do on Saturday, or maybe the fact is that London Cornish would not let them.

Trinity started well and dominated play through showing plenty of grit into the teeth of the gale and forcing Cornish to concede a succession of penalties and so relieve the inevitable pressure in their own half given the advantage of the wind enjoyed by the hosts. In fact, the visitors had the first chance to go ahead with a penalty attempt, but Ben Telfer’s kick narrowly missed. They then managed to spoil Cornish’s line out and a fine kick by Telfer across the wind seemed to win a 50-22, only to be denied by the officials. The visitors were doing well with a good clearance from James Duffy and a turnover by Quinn Singh. Tom Fairclough tidied up well. Cornish piled on the pressure after the Trinity line out stuttered and two penalties took them deep into the attacking zone. Some missed tackles in midfield allowed them to set up a good line but, when they went inside instead of utilising an obvious overlap, Trinity did well to prevent a score by holding the ball up over the line. However, from the dropout Cornish managed their possession much better and recycled well before scoring in the right corner for a 5-0 lead after 30 minutes.

Trinity now lost the focus that they had possessed up to now and a poor kick off and then a loss of their own line out enabled Cornish to double their lead 3 minutes later. Trinity dug in again and solid tackles by Ben Vaillant and Tom Wilcox enabled them to drive upfield. There then followed a crucial period in the match. Cornish were penalised and Telfer found touch in the corner. But the lineout was spoiled, and Cornish cleared to touch. Trinity came again and pounded the line for a score which would have given them a really good half-time position, but the ball went forward and Cornish were relieved to survive as the whistle went for the interval.

The deficit of 0-10 was certainly not insurmountable in Trinity’s minds with the prospect of the wind behind them in the second half. Alas! It was Cornish who now upped their game and dominated possession in the first attack. Thy shrugged off tackles and provided admirable support to score under the posts to lead 17-0 after 44 minutes. Trinity now did have some chances and battered the home line. The Cornish defence was sound and too many wrong options, with individuals trying to break through on their own, played into the hands of the opposition. Cornish really wanted the game more and played the conditions skilfully with good handling and support, being first to the breakdown and jealously guarding their possession by keeping it tight in the conditions. Trinity were very one-dimensional and lacked variation in their play. Ben Edmonson carried well but was not given space to use his speed and Ali Hall never stopped trying. The Trinity scrum did very well over the course of the afternoon. Towards the end Cornish tails were up and they ran in two further tries to seal an impressive performance.

MATCH REPORT: Gerry Murphy