Cam just to good for Red Dragons.

Any game against London Welsh is special, as you can guarantee a big crowd of their loyal supporters and also they will always fight for the full 80 mins. Today, however was even more special, firstly as Head Coach Voighty celebrated 100 starts for the club and secondly we also celebrated the life of former player, coach and President and very special individual and friend to many, Bill Murray, who passed last Saturday, with a minute's applause before the game got underway.

Cam got things underway unusually kicking off towards the clubhouse but as this was the first game at Watchetts since Dec 3rd no one noticed (Birdy!!) and they soon showed their intent as from a lineout on their 10m line we saw some brilliant handling in the backs with young 15 Vic making a telling break and then our Fireman taking the ball deep into the 22 before popping to Brizzle for the centre to dot down with less than 2 mins played and with Liam adding the extras the black and amber supporters were in their element.

For the next 20 mins Cam clearly had the edge both at scrum time when they won a number of pens and only desperate defence by the visitors kept Cam from adding to the score but on 20 mins, playing another advantage, we saw young Vic come into the line and scything through the Welsh defence and with a cheeky chip over the defence which he then cleverly recovered before putting Ali through under the posts for an excellent score.
And the next score was not far away as, despite knocking on the restart in their 22, Cam were soon down in the redzone again thanks to an excellent nudge by Liam and although the initial drive was held up the ball was quickly shipped to Our Fireman who crashed over for a well worked try and a 21-0 scoreline with less than 30 mins on the clock, (which, by the way was not working!!)

We then had to suffer, yet again, the Camberley malaise as shoulders got softer and intensity dropped just a tad allowing the visitors back in to score 2 converted tries before the break making the score 21 – 17 before both sides retired to their half time break in the comfort of the changing room.

And the second half got even worse for the home supporters as in the first minute Cam were penalised for a high tackle which cost them 3 points and a player on the naughty step for 10 mins and the visitors took advantage of their numerical superiority to take the lead with an unconverted try on 55 mins.

We then saw Cam move up a gear as, when Liam put another pen into the redzone, the driving maul took the sting out of the Welsh defence and when the ball was popped out we saw The Flying Fijian crash over from 10m to reclaim the lead for his side and also the tbp.
From this stage Cam clearly started to dominate matters as the huge defensive effort of the visitors began to take its toll but the next score was simply a moment of magic.
From around the centre of the pitch we saw Liam execute a perfect kick /pass to Jos who broke several tackles and when he was held an exquisite behind his back flip pass to young prop Bazza saw the young tighthead bullocking down the touchline before releasing Hughsey for a truly fabulous score.
Cam had another score in them when we first of all saw winger Max belie his size by breaking through the heart of the Welsh defence and, when the ball was recycled, the Fireman switched on the afterburners again before finding Brizzle for the centre's second of the afternoon.

So I guess Risey and his coaches will be satisfied with their squad's overall performance against a good team who offered great D all afternoon together with potent attacking options in their backs but as with most games this season the black and ambers just had too much when they pressed the pedal.

As always the scrum was really solid and won a string of pens which provided good attacking positions and the backs looked dangerous when they got the ball in open play with George, Jos and Vic in particular proving real threats and it was also promising to see the replacements also adding to things with Pickles, in a 10 min cameo putting in some really solid tackles, BLS always making a nuisance of himself while young Max showed his potential with several telling breaks.

So next week we have the trip down the M4 to Royal Wootton Bassett, another first, when the objective, presumably will be for another max if only to keep the pressure on The Wombles.
Pic shows Hughsey crossing for his try