Cam Squeeze through to Regional Final

On the official final Saturday of winter, Cam welcomed May and Baker, runaway leaders of Essex 1, to Watchetts in this delayed regional semi final of the National Junior Vase competition.
Playing against a chill breeze away from the clubhouse Cam gratefully accepted the scrum when the visitors kick off didn't travel 10m and were soon on the attack with Jono almost over but winning a pen. Cam wasted that 5m lineout opportunity but the black and ambers stayed pretty focussed against a very well drilled opposition and on 10mins were rewarded when Tom Dunn converted a penalty.
The visitors came back strongly straight from the restart when the black and ambers did not manage the restart and when they won a 5m lineout their experienced pack drove over to take the lead on 13 mins.
Cam were being undone by making some basic mistakes which, against a very good defensive team like the visitors, inevitably led to turnovers and M&B managed to win another 5m lineout and again their driving maul proved to be unstoppable making the score after 18 mins 3-12.
No side was able to dominate the game although the visitors scrum was proving very effective at disrupting the Cam ball but on 35 mins and again 4 mins later the metronomic boot of Tom reduced the deficit to 3 points with 2 more excellent kicks into the breeze.
The second half saw Cam produce a little of their more flowing rugby when the black and ambers kick off was expertly won by flanker Josh and a couple of phases saw centre Joe Wood crash over for a converted try and a 16-12 lead after just 43 mins.
At this stage the wind was helping Camberley who found themselves regularly pushed back to their 22 but Tommy Dunn made 50m with a penalty on his 5m line and when the resulting lineout was won the backs via Phil Creswell took play deep into the visitors red zone.
During this period both sides 'won' yellow cards with the visitors winning 1 for repeatedly not rolling away and Cam for bringing down the very effective M&B rolling mauls and with Cam 13 playing M&B 14 the visitors scored yet another try from a driving maul following a 5m lineout to edge back in front 16-17 with almost 60mins played.
Cam were fighting hard at this time despite being a player down and when they won the restart the visitors were soon behind again after conceding another soft penalty.
Still short of players Cam exited the restart well but eventually conceded a penalty which was converted by the visitors full back to edge them infront again with just 10mins left.
Back to full strength Cam again took play into the visitors half direct from the restart and another beautifully struck penalty from 35m pushed the black and ambers ahead again and despite a period of ferocious attacks from M&B in the last 5 mins, the black and ambers retained their discipline and when they eventually turned the ball over just 5 m short of their line and kicked it dead and the ref blew for no side there was justifiably a huge sense of satisfaction from the team and their loyal supporters.
This had been a true cup tie with no quarter given by either side and it was clear why the visitors are having such a successful season based on an excellent pack whose driving maul is a real weapon.
For the young Cam side this was a fantastic achievement, at no time did they let their heads drop and shouted on by scrum half and skipper Roger Wood they managed to retain their shape and discipline most of the time in a highly competitive game and this experience will stand them in good stead for the rest of a what is certain to be a very challenging run to the end of the season.
The pack again put in an enormous shift and although the visitors shaded the set pieces the young front five never gave up and to their immense credit were still battling when the whistle was blown.
The back row who have most of this season had the freedom of the park in many games knew they had been in a game today with defence being their main focus and half backs Roger and Tom controlled things against a very good side.
Not a great day again for the backs but Joe, Chris Bird and Phil C managed to make good yards and Liam had a good debut on the wing.
The Regional Final will be played away at Ironsides on March 14th but Risey and his boys will concentrate on the visit of Kingston next week to ensure we keep the pressure on the leaders.
With the C&Ws playing the pests tomorrow there is clearly no news on that front but perhaps we should recognise the benefits of Richard Hoare and his Jolly Green Tractors as the pitch despite a fair amount of rain recently played perfectly so looks like the Exec have spent our money wisely.