No Xmas Sparkle from Cam as they lose at Chichester

In this, the penultimate challenge in the first round of the League, with Beckenham signalling the halfway way point of the season next Saturday, the black and ambers supporters travelled to Chichester more in hope than belief as again their team was hit by injuries, this week we saw the experienced Hughsey, Voighty and Dyl all absent from the team and Alex Turton and Sam Risbridger making their debuts for the club as well as the reappearance of Brunel boys Matt Mahoney and Dimples.
The game kicked off in bright sunshine, which was certainly a welcome change from recent weeks, in front of a good crowd and for the first five minutes we saw both sides trying to impose themselves and after 6 minutes the home side did just that when they found a big hole in the centre of the Cam defence and although a couple of the passes involved seemed a tad 'dubious' they opened the scoring with a converted try.

Cam then had a period of pressure in the Chichester red zone with the home side being penalised on several occasions but despite the black and amber pack having control at scrum time the ball was lost too easily when it was pushed out wide and so a number of opportunities went begging.
However after 30 mins and more pressure in the Chichester 22 the ball was moved wide by Cam and TommyA let speedster Alex free and his extreme pace was just too much for the home defence as he crossed for his debut try.

So 30 mins gone and 7-5 with Cam up to their old tricks again when they failed to manage the restart and so, as on so many occasions this season, they again gave the home side the opportunity to attack and on 36 mins a great break saw the home side score another converted try and a 14-5 lead.
To their credit Cam did work hard individually to claim the next score but against a physical and street wise Chichester team who were excellent at 'at playing the official' they were unable to add to their score before the break.

Cam started the second half much more positively and in fact created several opportunities to score but holding on too long before passing, losing the ball in contact and aimless kicking against a well drilled and aggressive defence meant that despite the pressure they were unable to cross the whitewash although they did get within lbp range when Smarty kicked a pen on 50 mins.
Cam then again had some quality time in the Chichester 22 but were unable to convert this into points and when Chichester had a defensive scrum about 10m from their line we saw that despite them retreating, their lively #8 took play deep into the Cam 22 and after a couple of phases Chichester crossed for another converted try on 60 mins.
However Cam were soon back in lbp range when pressure in the Chichester 22 saw the ball eventually pushed out wide and a missed pass gave young Turton on the wing to again demonstrate his pace as he skinned his opposition to dot down and with Smarty adding the extras the score moved to 21-15 with about 10 mins to play.
At this stage one would have expected some controlled rugby from the black and ambers as they attempted to find the winning score while protecting their lbp. However this was not to be as overambitious kicks and passes just played into Chichester's hands and they added 2 further penalties in this period to record a well deserved win.

With the other results in this loss sees Cam drop to third place 4 points behind the new leaders Havant but with all to play for and we will host 2 of the main 3 rivals in the second half of the season.

So a disappointing day with the forwards again putting in a shift but overall too many of the basics just went missing and the team looked very much like they had never played with each other before.
However on the positive side good debuts for 'The Turton Rocket' on the wing, he may be small in stature but truly great on pace while flanker Sam Risbridger brought pace and physicality to the back row. And then we have the 2 Josh's, Josh 'the newish' prop again had a run out and looks to be adjusting to the systems and pace well and promises to be a real asset while it was great to see The Warrior Josh back after months and months on the sidelines – yes perhaps a little ring rusty as I'm sure he thought he would get a few more run outs with the 2s before returning to the 1s but his commitment, physicality and leadership have been missed over the last 9 months or so.

So next week we entertain Beckenham – ko 2.00 following the Christmas Lunch – if you haven't booked your place yet call Lydia or Mike Courtness.