Superb Camberley enjoy a Nine Try Fest in the Sun at Twickenham

So May 6th had at last arrived and the heart rates of all of those connected with Camberley RFC quickened a tad as the boys arrived at Watchetts for a squad breakfast.
With all of the special stash handed out the squad, still remarkably relaxed on the whole although most admitting to some nerves/excitment, then took the coach to Twickenham. Deliberately scheduled to arrive early the lads were then able to meet friends, family and supporters in the West car park and adjust to their suroundings well in advance of the game.
On arrival the supporters 'entertainment area' hosted by Scotty, Stu Davies and Bradders (I think) was already in place and to their credit kept going with food and beverages until the squad left this special place around 20.00 to return to Watchetts and ramp up the celebrations.
As the home side they had been allocated the England dressing room and when the obligatory RFU photo was taken outside the Spirit of Rugby entrance it was clear that the lads were already focussed on the job in hand and this only increased during their warm up, which was held behind the dead ball areas while the preceeding game was still playing. Even with 3 sides of the stadium closed the noise was immense, I cannot imagine what 83K in full voice can be like on the pitch, and with 30 mins to go the Camberley pink appeared in large swathes in the West Stand.
So to 3.00 – well to say it was an explosive start probably understates things if you were a Droitwich player or supporter as their kick off was gathered in cleanly and immediately Cam set up several pick and drives moving the ball out of their 22 and when TommyD decided to play the ball wide we saw Oli slice through the defence before setting brother Ash on a sprint to the line and with TommyD adding the extras 7-0 with only a minute on the clock.
Now at this point I should probably issue a Health Warning for anyone intending to watch the game later. At this stage the TV summariser, a recently retired WRFU England international, clearly started her love fest with Ash – not sure if it was his hair, his shorts or simply his pace which was the attraction but she clearly became his #1 fan but I guess in the end with 4 tries to his name she can be forgiven???

So the restart was again collected by Hughsey and young Nick made some valuable yards before winning a penalty. From the lineout The Warrior took the ball up again crushing a few Droitwich defenders in the meantime and when the ball was played wide it was that man Oli again this time with a superb dummy and step who crossed for another score converted by TommyD, 14-0 with just 3 mins on the clock.
Clearly Droitwich were shell shocked and soon fell further behind when another Cam attack was illegally stopped by a high tackle and with TommyD again doing the honours 17-0 after 7.
The restart brought the next big encounter as a Camberley knock on brought the first scrum when the black and pinks drove Droitwich back at a rate of knots to win the penalty feeling amongst the team went up another level as the backs raced in to congratulate their pack.
It was still all Camberley at this stage although to their credit Droitwich worked hard to quell the almost constant attacking by the boys in pink and when they had the ball they were finding it extremely difficult to break the hugely physical defence that was up so quick and which has been a major factor in all of the tough ties which Cam have played to get to the final.

And so after a period when Droitwich did have some decent possession they clearly became frustrated as all of their neat pick and go calls were stifled on the gain line and so, as is often the case, resulted in them eventually opting for the kick, but as many sides have discovered this just brings the back three of TommyA, Oyoni and Ash into play and when this Cam move was again stopped illegally TommyD again took the 3 points and so after 16 mins Cam had stretched their lead to 20 points.

The restart brought another scrum as a result of a knock on but again the boys in pink destroyed their opposing pack and won another pen to heap more pressure on Droitwich who were starting to suffer as a result of the pace and physicality of the game.
From the resulting lineout the ball found Oyoni off his wing and he carved a hole in the heart of the Droitwich midfield before great vision saw him throw a long pass to Ash who sped over for his second try.and with TommyD enjoying his time on this hallowed turf deciding to knock over the conversion from the touch line the score had reached 27-0 at the end of the first quarter.
We then saw what often happens to Cam when they build an early lead, concentration levels drop just slightly and when Droitwich were awarded a penalty they kicked for the corner and only a very clever and physical challenge by Oyoni prevented the Droitwich prop sneaking over in the corner and from winning the lineout Cam swiftly returned to the middle of the park. Then with 27 mins on the clock all the efforts of the Droitwich pack paid off. From a scrum on the Cam 10 the Droitwich eight, retreating at some pace, somehow managed to collect the ball via their talented #8 and quick transfer to his 9 saw the scrumhalf just out pace TommyD to touch down in the corner and when the kick was converted from the touchline the score was 27-7 on 27 mins.
The rest of the half saw Ash almost through again following another Oyoni break only for it to be called back for a forward pass and hooker Dyl almost made it through on the other side of the pitch only for the supporting players to be penalised.
Meanwhile Droitwitch discovered that they could make good yards either by taking any pens very quickly and also by attacking straight through the middle of the ruck and in the final 10 mins of the half these methods almost brought them points although the Cam defence could not be breached.
The second half got off to almost as an explosive start as the first and Cam had added 2 further tries before many of the spectators had returned from the bars.
With Cam kicking off they soon turned over possession and Ash made a good dart through the middle of the pitch and when a neat chip ahead by younger brother Josh was adjudged to have been carried over the Cam eight relished the chance of the pushover try. The first attempt won a penalty and the reset scrum was again splintering until #8 Mac picked up and headed for the corner. However he was just about to be brought down short when our new superstar 'Ashley' raced in from 20m to take a superb 'behind the back' pass and touch down wide out but to TommyD with his magic boots this was no problem and so he added the extras.
Changes to the Cam starting lineup saw HT come on at 9, TommyD to 10 and Smarty, who had not played for several weeks following his 'incident' with Josh, taking a break.
However when good lineout ball was quickly turned over again by Cam the ball was shipped wide to our Flying Fijian and if Droitwich quaked when Ash got the ball they were clearly petrified to see his searing pace combined with his physicality storm in from 30m and with a much easier kick TommyD this time hit the post.

Inevitably Droitwich had their share of possession and on one attack veteran TommyA was somewhat harshly adjudged to have deliberatly knocked on and so had 10 mins on the naughty step – in the searing heat he was probably quite grateful in fact!!
So with only 14 Cam again demonstrated how great their D can be as Droitwich hammered away but they were unable to capitalise on the man advantage in fact on 60 mins Cam drove out of their 22 through Hughsey and Ash and again the ball was shipped early to The Flying Fijian and he sliced through the defence to dot down for another excellent score and with TommyD back on target the score had move to 46-7 as the game moved into the final quarter.
With Cam now up to full quota again they were soon turning over Droitwich again and when they drove a lineout from their 22 to halfway the ball was again swung wide and first Ash made good metres before popping to TommyA whose physical run took him to within 10m and his pop to HT saw the young scrum half just make the line as he was tackled, so 51-7 on 64 mins.
To be fair to the opposition they were still fighting despite the heat and the huge physical challenge they faced and on 70 mins they got some reward when, from a scrum on halfway their 8 picked up at the base and shrugged off several attempted tackles before shipping to the fullback who picked a great line and arriving at pace was just to quick for TommyA and touched down for a try which he will remember for a long time.
By now tiredness and lack of concentration was in evidence on both sides and when Hughsey claimed the restart Cam set up a series of pick and drives with everyone believing they could break through and although they eventually made a bit of a mess of things initially in front of the Droitwich posts they soon recovered and when the ball was switched out wide again young Mua forced his way over in the corner on 76 mins.
Then with full time approaching we again saw some of the quality of this special team.
Initially the restart was run back by TommyA and The Warrior taking play into the opposition half and another penalty award took play into the Droitwich 22,
When Cam were pinged for crossing in the lineout most of the spectators thought that this would be the end of the game but the Droitwich kicker was too ambitious and when TommyA fielded the kick deep in his half he did what TommyA always does ie looks for an attacking opportunity and he found The Flying Fijian who made good yards before great hands saw Ash eventually cross under the posts for his 4th try – Captain Marvellous??.
He and TommyD then in a great gesture called up veteran TommyA to slot the kick, as the clock showed full time, to cap a tremendous victory 63-14.

This was the culmination of a fantastic season for the Senior Club at all levels but especially the 1s who have developed into an awesome group probably best described by skipper Ash when he reminded the 22 before the match that he didn't have just 2 brothers in the side but 21 and without doubt that has been one of the key factors in the development of the side.
This was another outstanding performance and it would be wrong of me to single out any one player as they all made major contributions from the dominance in the tight, the aggressive defence based mostly on the pack, the game management shown by halfbacks and the searing pace and skill of the outside backs and together with the replacements they were all stars.
And let us not forget the fantastic coaching set up the club has developed through Chairman of Rugby Paddy and his coaching team led by DoR Gareth, Alun, JJ, Ash and Tomo – Twickenham would just not have happened without their dedication. Its great on lovely sunny afternoons in September or May but there are many more cold wet Tuesday and Thursday evenings in January and Fenruary when the hard work is done.