Cam Claim Max against local rivals Bracknell

So on another very hot Saturday, Cam entertained local rivals Bracknell, hoping to put the 'Nightmare at Maidenhead' to bed. In the event the black and ambers, in front of a good crowd, managed to somewhat painfully extract 5 points from a game in which they showed on numerous occasions their attacking prowess but, unfortunately, as in the game last week, they were unable to master the official's interpretation of what was happening at the breakdown and this resulted in many promising opportunities halted by the official's raised arm accompanied by a sharp blast on his whistle.

With Cam kicking off, playing towards the clubhouse both sides started quite conservatively but with less than 10 on the clock we saw The Fiesty Fireman, Young Vic and BLS combine sweetly, making at least 50m to see George held up just short but the cavalry was at hand and Skipper Birdy crashed over for an excellent score.
The next 15 mins or so saw Cam doing most of the attacking and with the visitors lineout malfunctioning on a regular basis it seemed only a matter of time before the black and ambers would add to their score but on several occasions when it seemed they were going to score the visitors gained some respite with a penalty and on 17 Mac was very unfortunate to be yellow carded when, what seemed like a very powerful tackle, was penalised for a deliberate knock on by the hard working #8 ?
But despite the numerical disadvantage Cam withstood the visitors pressure and with a sweeping move they went ahead when, following great turnover ball by Dom, skipper Birdy ran a beautiful line to provide The Fireman with an excellent try and with Razor adding the extras the score had moved to 12-0 on 25.
The visitors, however, were not to be underestimated and via a couple of pens they entered the red zone and a good lineout drive saw them score a good try which was converted.
The rest of the half saw Cam pressing for their next score and it closed with the black and ambers camped in Clubhouse Corner but unable to drive over.

The second half started brightly for Cam and another fluent backs move saw The Fireman again seemingly over in the corner only for the visiting linesman declare the winger in touch.
So with 12 mins played Cam again laid siege to the visitors line and when a lineout drive was again held up, the ball was released and a long miss pass from Smarty was tapped forward by the ever alert Vic for the fullback to touch down out wide for a 10 point lead.

We then saw another great period of rugby when firstly Cam put in some tremendous D on their try line and when the return of their defensive kick was overcooked by the Bracknell 15 and going dead we had a Cam scrum on halfway. From this scrum a great blindside break by Brizzle saw him force his way deep into the Bracknell 22 before slipping the ball to Bowers, faithfully supporting his teammate, and the young winger powered his way over in the corner. So on 65 mins the score had moved to 22-7 with the tbp secured.
The game was now becoming very stop start with players from both sides suffering from the heat with cramp etc and, to their credit, the visitors managed to pull a couple of tries back, enough to claim a lbp but not the win although in the dying moments Cam did have the opportunity to deny them anything when Razor, from close to halfway put a penalty attempt just wide of the upright but in fairness to the visitors that would have been a tad harsh.

In what was always going to be a difficult fixture eventually the black and ambers did just enough to claim a maximum but they will need to sharpen up both with the way they 'manage' the officials and in doing so minimise the number of pens they concede and also work on their driving maul which certainly has seemed underpowered in the last couple of games.

Overall the pack again worked their socks off and it was good to see Bazza get 20 mins after missing a couple of weeks and Murph looked sharp and threw some great arrows until the cramp got him. Greg and Tony again did well at scrum time and both were very active in the loose as was Big Dom who is enjoying his new found skill of jackalling, (watch out Shawa!!) The back row again were immense with BLS, Birdy and particularly Macca getting through a shedload of work.
Young Max had a very lively game and put in some critical tackles and his new partnership with old boy Smarty worked well while Smarty slotted back in as if he hadn't been away despite having to shake the desert sand from his boots. Razor and Brizzle worked well together in a new centre partnership and with both of them being so talented it will be good to see them after a few more games together while the back three again showed their class. We all know how good the Fireman can be but it really is encouraging to see Vic bossing things from the back and his silky runs are a joy to watch while Bowers, in his debut season, has proved to be amazing both in attack and defence and the youngster has currently scored in every game!!

Pic by Dinger shows Matt Bowers claiming the tbp

So with Havant now the only unbeaten side in the league and Cam leading a bunch of 5 or so teams with 10 points, due to a superior points difference, Clarkey and his coaches have the challenge of focussing this squad as they face another couple of tough fixtures with Marlborough away next week and old rivals Havant at Watchetts on the 30th

And Finally – well what a Saturday for all things C&W with a largely academy side taking maximum points from their visit to The Sorries in the Prem Cup and with Jersey doing a number on 'that lot down the A46' what a result – can't wait for the Queens visit to Castle Grim next Sat – what do you think Garcia?

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