At the end of a deeply frustrating game for the visitors, Cornish took the points thanks in no small part to a very controversial refereeing decision.

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The Blues started strongly on the windswept Putney pitch and a lineout five metres from the Cornish line was well-taken. As Chichester marched over the try line, they were called back for a technical infringement – the first of many such decisions.

Chichester kept the pressure on the black and golds with strong tackling, and Sean Steyn smashed his opposite number into touch.

With Chichester winning good lineout ball through Ridsdale, Ski Sauliga punched through the middle and Cornish conceded a penalty.
Stanton struggled to judge the cross-wind and the chance went begging.

Chichester were winning the lineouts, but struggling at the scrum.

Pressured ball was pounced on by the Cornish seven and Chichester failed to release – and it was 3-0 as the kicker made no mistake.

The rest of the half was frustrating as the constant blowing of the referee's whistle dominated.

Just past the half-hour, Chichester were camped in the Cornish 22 and another disrupted scrum eased the pressure for the hosts as they hoofed the ball clear.

A catalogue of mistakes with a poor pass going to ground led to a fly-hack up the field with four players converging on the ball ten metres from the Chichester line.

The referee adjudged blocking by a Blues man and, to the disbelief of the Chichester, a penalty try was awarded.

With the cover arriving fast and some way to the line, a try had been by no means certain. The Cornish coaching team admitted later they'd have been extremely disappointed to have conceded a penalty try had the situation been reversed.

But the Blues rallied and Stanton struck a beautiful drop goal to make it 10-3 at the interval.

With the crosswind in their favour after the break, Chichester played into the corner – but every time they played more than a couple of phases, the whistle went or Cornish scrambled the ball away.

Stanton converted a nice penalty to close the gap to 10-6. Although the Blues had shored up the scrum, they were lacklustre in attack and the London side started to create chances.

The best moment for the Blues was an unbelievable man-and-ball tackle by Sauliga on a Cornish back who dived to make what looked like a certain score, only to be flipped over on his back unable to ground the ball.

Three or four chances were spurned as the Blues pushed for a late winner.

There will be plenty of other teams who will leave London Cornish with nothing to show.

But Chichester have set the bar high and by their recent standards, they will be disappointed with the performance – the exception being Jon Lindsay, who was excellent in defence and attack.

Chichester return to league action this Saturday at home to London Irish Amateurs.