On the Saturday 11th October, Camberley hosted Old Alleynians in what was a highly competitive fixture. Prior to kick, the visiting side sat in second place in the Regional 1 South Central league with Cambo in 7th. Camberley had an opportunity to face one of the best current teams in the league and potentially cause an upset.

Kick off went to Old Alleynians with Camberley receiving to start the game. Similar to last week the first scrum came early after a knock on from Camberley. Nevertheless, Camberley showed impressive strength to put pressure on the opposition’s scrum, suggesting early dominance. Old Alleynians nearly scored through a delicate grubber kick, however Sebastian Dando prevented the attempt. Old Alleynians swiftly moved on from this as they kicked to the corner and then trundled over the try line for the first points of the game (CAM 0 – ALL 7). The game started to open up with both side making clear line breaks, which were repelled after last ditch cover defence. Camberley came up on the right side of this territory battle after entering the visitor’s 22m and earning a scrum. After knocking at the Old Alleynians door for a decent period, centre Callum Corey showed great feet and strength to get over the line for Camberley’s first try (CAM 7 – ALL 7). With the sun suddenly coming out, Camberley were forced to defend hard within their 22m. The visiting side eventually were awarded a penalty for offside which they opted for the penalty kick to regain the lead (CAM 7 – ALL 10). Camberley came back from this by getting into the opposition final quarter, earning every metre they made before lock Ben Harrison got over the line (CAM 14 – ALL 10). As the end of the half came into sight Camberley had a scrum within the 22m and from there Fin Parker flew up the edge stepping defenders before dotting the ball over the line for the final play of the half (CAM 19 – ALL 10).

Camberley kicked off the second half and caught the visitors off guard with Ben Lovell-Smith coming off a fake driving maul and throwing a great dummy at the short side of the lineout to score in the corner (CAM 24 – ALL 10). The response to this trick play was immediate with the Old Alleynians kicking deep into ‘Cambo’s’ half where they then mauled their way over the try line (CAM 24 – ALL 17). The pressure started to mount on Camberley as try scorer Fin Parker was given a yellow card for an attempted interception. Now down to 14 and the visitors building their momentum Camberley conceded another try after Old Alleynians peeled off from a driving maul (CAM 24 – ALL 24). With Camberley under pressure Alex Seers stepped up to take a penalty to regain the lead (CAM 27 – ALL 24). Old Alleynians cemented their physical dominance with their third try (CAM 27 – ALL 31). The visitors, now in front, went to their blueprint of their previous tries, kicking deep and then utilising their driving maul. However, this time their attempt was repelled with ‘Cambo’ winning the ball back and then cleared their 22m. Old Alleynians defence was solid with Camberley making few meters. After turning the ball over, the visiting side moved the ball to the edge and scored in the corner (CAM 27 – ALL 36). With Camberley’s heads seemingly down, a perfect kick from Callum Corey and impressive speed from Fin Parker gave Camberley the final try of the day and a losing bonus point (FT CAM 32 – ALL 36).

Even though Camberley came up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, they had an impressive first half showing off an energetic pack and electric back line. However, second half Camberley struggled with the physical battle which increased the number of penalties conceded and yielded precious territory. After Saturday’s results Camberley remain 7th in the league and face CS Stags 1863 next week who are currently in 5th place.