Cool Cam Cruise past Contenders in another Classy Show

So another Saturday afternoon at Watchetts with the pitch looking in great nick but with a stiff breeze blowing across the pitch from the top right hand corner to club house corner and with Cam opting to play up the slope in the first half they found themselves facing the elements.
Today's opponents, Maidenhead, were new to Watchetts and in these early stages of the season they had clearly staked their claim to a promotion spot by seemingly comfortably winning their first 4 games losing for the first time to Oxford last time out.
In the end a good crowd enjoyed? a rather scrappy contest with Cam always in control, largely through yet another outstanding performance by their pack, and eventually their sheer physicality coupled with their quality defence saw the visitors return home empty handed.

The game started with the visitors developing several promising positions courtesy of a very good 50/22 kick but the intense pressure that Cam exert on any side in defence proved to be just too much for the 'Magentas' and it was no surprise that their pack were soon under pressure at scrum time winning the first of many pens and Liam took play to within 10m of the visitors line before, with great awareness the ball was again swung wide to young prop Bazza who crashed over in the corner for the first score of the afternoon on 9 mins.
The restart saw our Fireman take play straight back into the Maidenhead half and the Cam efforts were soon rewarded with a penalty which Liam pushed just wide.
We then saw a period of often scrappy play by both sides with neither of them able to break the other down and this despite Cam being reduced to 14 for 10 mins although it was now apparent that the visitors pack were in for a torrid time at every scrum and the penalty count at the end of the game just for penalties at the scrum must have been more than 10.
With the extra man the visitors did get a bit more involved in proceedings and on 35 mins, after spending many fruitless minutes trying to break down the Cam defence, they opted for a penalty on 35 mins however Cam were straight back and putting the Maidenhead scrum under pressure for what seemed like 6 or seven put ins inside the visitors 22 and winning countless penalties, finally they drove over the whitewash in time added on, with Hughsey claiming the try and a magnificent kick from the touch line by Liam into the breeze saw the half close with Cam edging 12-3 ahead.

The visitors came out all fired up in the second half and temporarily looked dangerous until a great tackle by Ed G forced a knock on gave the black and ambers some ball and when the visitors were pinged again for a high tackle Liam pushed play into clubhouse corner and a great lineout drive was followed by some clever work between #9 Ali and Jos which saw the Flying Fijian cross for a good try on 50 mins and with Liam again gauging the conditions well the score had moved to 19-3.
However the visitors were not lying down and almost from the restart they launched an attack from within their half and although they got away with a clear case of crossing their pace enabled them to touch down for a converted try on 52 mins.
As in so many similar situations Cam struck back as they collected their own restart and probably only the second time in the game Cam fed the Flying Fijian and with would be tacklers simply falling off him he took play deep into the Maidenhead 22 and when the ball was recycled it was Jos again who claimed the ball and charged over for the try, the bonus point and a score 26-10 on 54 mins.
Play remained pretty scrappy from both sides with the ball being moved across the park seemingly often without a plan but we then saw Bazza again on the charge from inside his own 22 to well inside the visitors half and the ball was recycled quickly and great rugby saw young centre Alex cross for a well deserved score and with Liam again adding the extras Cam were pretty much out of sight with 10 mins or so left.
To their credit the visitors still tried to squeeze something from the game and despite some great Cam D they crossed in the corner on 76 mins and I guess this only had the effect of sparking up the black and ambers for another gear change and we saw some great football take play into the visitors red zone yet again and this time a glorious miss pass by Liam found #8 Hughsey who powered over for a splendid score and a well deserved final score 40-15.

So despite the scrappy nature of the game another satisfactory result for the Cam squad who are clearly beginning to relish the challenges of playing level 5 rugby every week and it is clear that they have a lot more to give and with the support of the coaching team I believe the Watchetts faithful have a pretty interesting season to enjoy.

As with most of my reports I must start by saying another outstanding performance by the forwards, again laid the foundations for this victory with Clarkey who provides the abrasive edge again leading from the front with Bazza showing yet again that his strength at the set piece plus his darts with the ball make him very special and these two more than ably supported by Pickles and later in the game debutant Lash were simply dominant.
In the row for the 6th game this season we have Big Dom who was immense today particularly in the loose and of course Head Coach Voighty who never gives less than 110% and the back row were simply majestic. Hughsey, Birdy, Ed and BLS were just everywhere for the 80 mins both in attack and defence constantly disrupting the opposition and this effort encapsulated in one magic moment, for me anyway when, in the first half, when the visitors were threatening deep in our 22, out of nowhere came Captain Birdsy with a crunching, try saving tackle – that was real rugby!!
Moving back, the Ali and Liam combination is improving with each game and today we saw the return of Wright The Youngest with Josh taking the 12 shirt and his experience was invaluable for the even younger Alex at 13 who is starting to make the 13 shirt his own.
Currently the club seems well placed in the back three, today Jos scored 2 tries and was a menace everytime he had the ball while George brings so much to the backs, even after his 3 month honeymoon!!, while Vic at 15 brings real excitement to spectators each time he gets the ball and, today they were more than ably supported by Gabe.

So next week we are all on the coach to the seaside for our next challenge at Brighton.

On the other pitch Cam 2s took on Maidenhead 2s and in a tight game the visitors shaded it 21-19.

And Finally – so with their second local derby in 2 weeks the C&Ws having shaded things at The Wreck last week just had enough to claim the 5 points against big spending Brizzle at a rocking Castle Grim.

Pics this week by Peg Leg Tom (Chennell )