Medway RFC 1stxv travelled to Wimbledon Common on Saturday. London Cornish enjoys the opportunity to play on one of London’s oldest pieces of common land & the pitch was in good condition despite lots of heavy & recent rain. No wombles could be seen.

The afternoon was cold and dry. No tricky wind to deal with this week for the kickers & it was a “must win” match for both Clubs. A pre-match lunch was put on by the hosts and the excellent referee blew his whistle at 2pm to start the contest. Four Medway RFC Men’s teams were scheduled to play with Folkestone RFC travelling to Medway to play our Extra 1st xv and our 4th xv on the road playing Snowdown RFC 1stxv in another Kent derby. Our 3rd xv game was postponed.

Medway & London Cornish men’s 1stxv’s teams met earlier in the season and on that occasion, Medway won by a 14 point margin at home and recent form favoured Medway so we all looked forward to some exciting rugby match in London.

Early pressure from visitors and the referee penalised Cornish. Fly-Half Owen Church-Mills stepped up and slotted the penalty, 0-3 after 2 minutes. Medway then put together over eight phases combining forwards and backs. The passes are precise and quick and despite good defence from Cornish, they run out of cover as Medway Captain Antony “Rusty” Clement crosses the tryline with some style. 0-8 after seven minutes. No extras from the conversion but the energy is high from Medway & this is one of the best starts this season. A punishing run from the irresistible No.8. Todd Johnson attracts at least three defenders who slow him down but a smart pass to supporting Lock Dan Jackson out flanks the stretched defence and the referee awards a fine Medway try. Owen scores the extras & it is 0-15 after 15 minutes. Excellent rugby from Medway.

Cornish decide to increase their tempo and their intensity at the Ruck is higher. Their reward is a penalty as Medway interfere on the ground. A good kick and the scoreboard displays 3-15 after 25 minutes. Another transgression by Medway is kicked, 6-15. Medway then make their own luck with relentless rucking and hard running. The referee signals Medway Penalty & Owen has a “freebie”, he kicks unorthodoxly and the 8 feet (at least) outstretched hand of Lock Jordan Stubbington plucks the ball from the air and scores a stunning try. Sidcup are reeling, the Medway travelling support are bouncing and the conversion is added, 6-22. Medway now play their best rugby for many weeks and some excellent strategic kicking from Ben Dance and Owen plus carries from Winger Connor Chalmers, front-row Jack Nickalls, Josh Knight and Ryan Eastley provide the platform for accurate line-out on the Cornish 5 meter line from which the evergreen Medway flanker and player of the match, Tom Beaumont crashes over the tryline to record a bonus point haul of x4 try’s in the first half and a score line of 6-27 at the break. C’mon Medway!

The indefatigable Medway Flanker Jonah Hyde takes an injury and debutant Harry Gibbons enters the fray, immediately making his presence felt, a player of high quality. Cornish then put together some excellent rugby that belies their league position and are rewarded for front foot uncompromising rugby with a good try & conversion, 13-27 and some hope for the hosts. After defending stoutly for around 15 minutes Medway responded with a fabulous team try. Centre Max Bullock broke the line twice, as did the rampaging Medway back row, linking with winger John Sipawa and winger Mac Perry allowing the other wing Connor Chalmers to receive the scoring pass and a fine Medway try chalking up the score of 13-32 with 25 minutes to play. Sean Marriott & Zeki Yesilmen both came off the bench and lived up to their “impact player” tag with Sean immediately powering through 40 meters and being prevented from scoring through unlawful play. Cornish receive a yellow card and Medway punish the hosts with powerful running from Zeki supplying the ball for Ryan to score another well taken try 13-39.
Cornish score a try but time is short & Medway score with Max Bullock feeding Ben Dance to score a good try at the end of the match. The final score of 20-46 allowed a spirited journey back to Medway RFC.

Medway Coach, Ricky Reeves wished London Cornish RFC well for the rest of the season and praised them for excellent rugby.

Medway’s next fixture is on Saturday 27th January 2024, versus Sutton & Epsom RFC, at home & with a 2pm ko.