Medway gave London Cornish a head start on Saturday, but recovered well to win their Regional 2 South East match 31-17.

Cornish bring back fond memories for Medway, who beat them in 2015 in front of a record-breaking crowd in a promotion play-off, but they fell behind early on this time, fly-half Mike Edworthy orchestrating many phases and rewarded with a team try.

The extras gave the visitors a 7-0 lead but Medway captain Antony Clement led the charge from the centres. Clement cut and carved the Cornish defence open and offloaded to Ben Dance, who did the rest and Owen Church-Mills added the two points.

Cornish quickly regained their seven-point lead, their No.8 scoring a converted solo try after a good, attacking lineout, but the next 15 minutes belonged almost exclusively to Medway’s Todd Johnson, who carried, tackled and led the attacking cohort to within five meters of the Cornish line.

The visitors defended impressively until a yellow card before Johnson bulldozed over. The extras were added to leave Medway trailing by three at the break.

Medway kicked long with the wind at their backs after the interval and team pressure won a penalty, slotted by Owen, to restore parity. The hosts led when Clement took a crash ball to score, Owen once more reliable from the tee.

The hosts held steady whenever Cornish threatened and made sure of victory when Clement and Dance combined for the latter to cross for a converted score late on.

Medway are next in league action at Sutton & Epsom on October 14.