No Xmas Sparkle as Cam fail to learn their lines.

So with many of the roads between Watchetts and Cobham flooded following the extreme rain of the last week it was some relief that the 1s game, the final test before the Xmas break, was scheduled for the new 3G pitch and with Cobham kicking off with the breeze at their backs Cam soon came under pressure and with less than 10 mins on the clock the home side crossed for an unconverted try.

The restart saw Cam win back the ball and when the Cobham backs dropped the ball on their 22 Cam were unfortunate that they could just not capitalise on the subsequent fly hack and chase.
With the scrum and lineout going really well for the black and ambers it seemed just a matter of time before they would score and following a great lineout drive and several pick and goes we saw Josh Thundercliffe crash over for a try which TommyD converted on 19 mins.

Again the restart management was poor and it took what seemed to be an age before the black and ambers moved into the Cobham half but eventually we saw Dyl collect an overthrown lineout and charge into the Cobham red zone and the resultant penalty was converted by TommyD making the score 5-10 on 29 mins.

But this advantage was short lived as again self created pressure from the restart saw the home side claim three points of their own within 2 mins.

Cam reclaimed their own restart and again moved into the home side 22 and then despite driving the home side back at the scrum somehow the Cobham 8 rescued the ball despite going backwards (something he proved to be excellent at all through the game) and in the confusion which resulted from the scrum breaking up the home side again charged into the Cam 22 and good hands saw them play the ball wide for another unconverted try, a score of 13-10 and that's how it remained until half time.

The second half started quite brightly with Dyl, Jaide and Ash combining to almost put Ash through but although that attack was thwarted the ball was soon recycled and we saw Ash run through a huge hole to touch down for another try which TommyD converted and a score of 13-15 after 45 mins,
again poor restart management saw Cobham immediately putting pressure on the Cam line and with 48 mins played they regained the lead with an unconverted try.

The next 10-15 mins saw both sides working hard to unlock each other's defences but mistakes were pretty plentiful from both sides and Cam clearly missing some of their leadership group seemed to be unable to steady things although on 64 mins they took the lead again with a beautifully struck penalty from TommyD

To their credit the home side were not prepared to lie down and the last 15 mins saw them apply most of the pressure, despite yet another lineout steal by Dyl and a hefty boot, and in time added on their effort was rewarded with a penalty making the final score 21-20.

So certainly not the Xmas gift Risey and his coaches wanted but in reality Cobham worked extremely hard both in attack and defence and on the day deservedly claimed the prize.

Some of the Cam players were also looking a tad tired and clearly carrying knocks so lets hope that the break will give them chance to recover in readiness for our next game which is at home against 4th placed Medway on Jan 4th

Now we have completed the first half of the league program here are a couple of observations.
Firstly the weekly changes to the team sheet have increased significantly (at this halfway point the 1stXV have used 42 players which is more than for the whole of last season) and this has clearly produced more disjointed performances this season and of course must have also been a great challenge for the coaching team.
Another key area of difference this season has been the side's complete inability to manage restarts. In previous seasons the process of sucking the opposition in over three or four phases before pushing the ball wide to the turbocharged wingers was extremely successful and also great to watch BUT at this level of rugby with quality opposition every week it is imperative that receiving the restart is managed sensibly and today just illustrated how poor exit processes heaps pressure on the whole side.

However with Havant losing narrowly at Chichester the top three are still all within 5 points but with Medway closing the gap in 4th.

The 2s also played at Cobham although they had real mud and this mixed side of 2s 3s and Vets eventually won by 67-0 with Jono (remember him??) scoring 5 tries and Dan Neal apparently converted by the Xmas Fairy from prop to centre wading in with 4.

And Finally – well for the first time this season the C&Ws really got their act together although it did take 50 mins on Friday night at Castle Grim but when they clicked it was great to watch as they destroyed the Warriors by scoring 5 tries to nil and a 36-3 victory – just the tonic required for their difficult trip to The Sinners next Saturday.