Cam Continue Quest for Promotion with another 5 point win

On a glorious Spring afternoon coaches and players had no doubts as to the importance of this game in their quest to be in the mix come April 13th but although the black and ambers showed respect to their visitors, Tottonians, it was apparent that too many minds were focussed on the next two games against top four placed Medway and Brighton rather than the job in hand. As a result, as on several previous occasions this season, the team gave a below par performance and, against a team fighting to avoid relegation, this produced disappointing viewing for the Watchetts faithful and hope for the travelling supporters until well into the second half when 3 tries late on put the game beyond the reach of the plucky visitors.

The game started poorly for the black and ambers who were 7 points down in 3 mins when sloppy tackling allowed Totts to break from halfway for a converted try.
We then had a period of Cam ascendency with various close calls and Hughsey almost over following a burst by Oyoni and a charge down the wing by Dyl and after 20 mins this pressure produced a score when the ball was swung wide yet again and young prop Bazza touched down in the corner for his second try in as many weeks.
Cam again got their act together and as they were beginning to win penalties at scrum time we saw Ash cross for a converted try on 26 mins and the lead.
The next period was a case of 'nearlies' with first Dyl and then Ben Harrison making great breaks only for possession to be lost and it took until the stroke of halftime before Cam were able to but some daylight between the sides when following a quick tap penalty by Matty we saw Hughsey held up over the line and more pressure including a scrum penalty saw Cam execute control and loads of phases until popping the ball out wide for Hughsey to stroll over for a converted try and a half time score of 19-7.
Cam were on the attack from the start of the second period but a couple of poor decisions saw the visitors extricate themselves from their own line and snap up some loose ball to score a converted try making the score 19-14 with just 2 mins of the second half played.
The black and ambers returned immediately to the Totts 22 and demolished the visitors scrum on several occasions but loose play by Cam and dogged defence by the visitors helped the Hampshire side keep the score close for almost 10 mins before a great lineout drive saw Ben Harrison driven over for a converted try and the bonus point.
Cam almost scored immediately following the restart but again sloppy play and poor decision making threw a number of chances away in a period which was very frustrating for their supporters and when Cam conceded a penalty on their 22 we saw the visitors cross for another converted try and narrow the gap to 26-21 which meant that one more try for the visitors would bring the try bonus point and the lead.
Cam missed the chance to extend their lead when they missed an easy penalty almost directly from the restart and things had become much more tense than they needed to be but when Petch followed up a kick ahead and nailed the fullback this set up a good field position and from a 5m scrum we saw Cam drive forward and Hughsey cross for his second and a lead of 10 points after 70 mins.
It wasn't long before Cam extended their lead as again, following lots of pressure in the Totts red zone, the ball was eventually shipped wide and Hughsey running a great angle sliced through the defence to dot down under the posts and a score of 38-21 in time added on.
As I have often recorded, the black and ambers do have a tendency to always look to minimise the effort they expend once 5 points have been acquired and today was no exception as, from the restart Totts threw everything at it to try to claim the TBP and with the assistance a penalty they crossed deep into injury time for a converted try and claimed their valuable point.
So this was a less than memorable performance by the black and ambers but, as they have shown several times this season already, they are masters at saving themselves for the 'big games' and nothing will be bigger for this squad than the visit to Medway next week followed by the final home game against Brighton who dropped off the pace a tad with their defeat at home by Medway today.
Clearly nothing less than the 80 min performance they delivered against Sevenoaks will be good enough to claim points against either side and what a cracking end to an unbelievable season - who could have forecast such a tight finish with Medway currently on 101 points and 7Oaks and ourselves on 100 and even after their defeat today Brighton will still believe they are in the mix.

The 2s had a really good game against London Scottish Lions in a fixture arranged at the last minute due to both sides losing their opposition late on in the week and although Cam eventually came out on top 27-12 both coach Tomo and skipper Benny believed that it was one of the best games they had played this season and many thanks to the Lions for making it happen,
The 3s also claimed a win away at Guildfordians and with their last fixture home to Cranleigh next week their place in the playoffs seems secure.

So next week the 1s travel to Medway for the next 'crunch' game while the 2s travel to Dorking for another challenging game.