This time last year, a confident EG 1st XV took to the field for their first competitive game after back-to-back promotions to level 7. An experienced Twickenham side and some unfortunate early injuries to our captain and vice captain, led to a heavy defeat and a harsh introduction to Counties 1 rugby.

What a difference a year makes - that injured vice captain is our new Director of Rugby, Dan Poulton. And this season's squad contains some fresher faces, some new ideas and 8 weeks of preseason training to prepare a team not just to survive, but to thrive.

This season opened with a visit from London Cornish, relegated after 7 years at level 6 and possibly expecting a comfortable introduction to their new opposition. Our clubs have met just once before, 13 years ago in a cup game. The one remaining Cornish player from that fixture was at #1 in the UK charts with garage duo Oxide & Neutrino before half our squad had been born. The older squad members were slightly more impressed that years later he was East Grinstead-bound for the reload...

Any pre-game trepidation from coaches and players soon evaporated after the kick off as EG received the ball and launched themselves into an aggressive Cornish defence. Doing the basics well, the home side secured the ball, remaining patient and disciplined, containing the visitors and building into the game.

The first score was a try from Noah Roberts, playing at full back after being drafted in as an emergency scrum half for the end of last season. An attacking scrum establishing its superiority gave our backs the platform in the opposition 22 for Noah to show what he can do against a stretched defence.

10 minutes later, London Cornish indiscipline forced them to defend a lineout on their 5m line. With a hungry pack of forwards to the left and a revved-up backline to the right, centre Chris May-Miller decided to skip right through the middle of the defence for our second try.

By half time, London Cornish had managed to claw back 3 points from a penalty kick, but despite the buoyant mood in the EG huddle, the score was just 10-3 and the game was far from won. As expected, the fightback came and an early try in the second half went thankfully unconverted. 10-8.

With just 2 points separating the two teams, the game was transformed by a clothes-line tackle on May-Miller as we recycled quick ball in the Cornish 22. A straight red card to their open-side flanker and 3 points from Luke Maker in front of the posts handed momentum back to the home side for the last quarter.

Controlled, but never comfortable, EG put pressure on the Cornish set piece and stayed organised in defence. In attack, however, our game management fell short and, despite the one-man advantage, we could only score a further 3 points from Noah Roberts to take the score to 16-8.

The Gs continued to defend hard, and play some good structured rugby, but failed to take advantage of good attacking positions and the numerical advantage. Eventually the visitors' perseverance, and tired bodies in defence, let Cornish over the line for a second time. The successful conversion this time reduced the deficit to just 1 point, and gave them the belief to drive on.

As the scoreboard clock ticked over 80 mins, the referee informed us we still had 4 mins to go as the forwards packed down for an attacking scrum and in no rush to get the ball back in play. The recent law changes denied us the option to take a further scrum from a free kick - and instead forced us back into open play to defend our slender lead. By the time the clock went red, we were deep in our 22, desperately holding on for the win. Play stopped for a Cornish scrum - a chance to regroup and for the EG pack to go for one last scrum turnover. After a couple of minutes of debate between players and referee, the final act of the game was a penalty to London Cornish. With the result taken out of our hands, all the EG faithful could do was watch nervously as the Cornish 10 took aim at the posts and the scoreboard ticked over to 16-18.

Before the referee had blown her whistle, the visiting players were jumping into one another's arms, celebrating a win on week 1 as if it were a cup final. East Grinstead ambled off the pitch wondering what had gone wrong, but also trying to focus on the many things that went well. Man of the Match Jake Radcliffe typified one of those positives, in a back line that fought hard to find space, then even harder to secure the ball.

London Cornish are a strong, experienced side and their resilience to come back to win was as impressive as our young side's ability to not be overawed and to immediately play with confidence in our style of play and in the players around them. We will take away our lessons around game management and turning periods of dominance into points, but this was a much more positive start than a year ago. We just keep building steadily, not rebuilding suddenly. We go to Old Haileyburians with a point to prove.