The Saturday rain settled leaving the afternoon dry for when the Thistles welcomed London Cornish 2s for their Zoo Shield 3 East encounter.
Early on, both teams converted penalties to make it 3 apiece. The first try came from an attacking lineout which Scottish drove over with George Shannon on the ball. It was converted by Alex Akoto, who recently represented Ghana 7s, after 15 minutes the lads were leading 10-3.
Another penalty from Akoto made it 13-3. The Thistles were building a lead.
The Scottish pack thwarted a few lineout drives from the Cornish side, holding them out.
Alex Akoto was on fire and scored the next try from a great set piece lineout ball. The ball came off the top and went through the hands of the back line for Akoto to pick up the last pass and beat the defenders on the outside. Credit to Luca Vettori who held his width expertly and fixed his defender, opening the space to Akoto. Akoto converted his own try and gave The Thistles a commanding 20-3 lead.
A slight lapse in concentration by the boys on the 35th minute, resulted in a try for Cornish from a good running line. The extras were added making the half time score 20-10.
The second half started with Scottish giving a penalty away which set up the first try of the half by London Cornish from a simple midfield play from their lineout.
The neext try also went the way of Cornish who took the lead for the first time in the match. The score was 20-24 to Cornish.
London Cornish added a further penalty and another converted try to win the game!
Final score 20 -37.
There were plenty of positives to take from this match, especially the intent shown in the first half and the team’s solid defence on their line and the defending of driving lineouts.
The lads know that after being 20-3 up, we should not be giving them any opportunities for position sides to stage a comeback. The Cornish side took advantage at a vulnerable time just before and after half time!
Hopefully the Thislte lads came replicate their first half performance in both halves when they play Blackheath Brigands at home on the 18th of November.
Thistles XV:
1. Isaac Koomson
2. Liam Kent-Jordan
3. James McKeown
4. George Shannon
5. Alec Corcoran
6. Kenny Brown
7. Ross Mackie (Captain)
8. Stephen West
9. Storm Fachaux Davies
10. Alex Mitchener
11. Silas Paul Johnson
12. Tommy Cottrell
13. Scott Cherry
14. Luca Vettori
15. Alex Akoto
Replacements:
16. David Torres
17. David Semu
Team Management:
Rod Jermy – Coach
Will Morgan – Coach
Mark Canning – Physio
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