Havant Happier with the Stoppage time Equaliser

So on a bitterly cold Saturday under the lights at Hooks Lane we saw Cam, currently sitting in 1st place, trying to gain their first win on this 4G pitch and put some space between themselves and second place Havant. In the event, in an exciting and pulsating game, the home side grabbed a draw in the closing minutes to dash black and amber ambitions and it was clear, at the final whistle, what it meant to the two squads, with the home side, having salvaged 2 points absolutely elated celebrating their good fortune while the black and ambers, having left everything on the park and coming so close to the win, clearly devastated.

Havant got the game on its way and a brisk start saw them win a pen in front of the posts which they duly slotted after just 4 mins.
The restart was well managed by Cam and soon we saw Razor put play deep into the redzone and with Cam winning the hosts ball another good break by Connor saw again a 5m lineout on the other side this time with Cam throwing in and the well constructed lineout drive was too much for the Havant 8 with Tony crossing for an unconverted try.

The restart was again not handled well and Cam were lucky when a pen straight on to the posts was pushed wide and then, following another great defensive set, Connor played a perfect 50/22 and although this one didn't go to plan we saw our Fireman flattened as he returned the defensive kick and this proved costly to the hosts as the tackler won 10 mins on the naughty step while the resultant pen again took Cam into the redzone and another perfectly executed Lineout catch and drive saw our Kiwi loosehead add his second try of the day and although it was not converted Cam were ahead 10-3 with 18 on the clock.

However this lead was destined to be short as the hosts again showed their competitiveness by building pressure in the Cam 22 and on 25 mins they crossed for a converted try to even things up and with about 5 mins of the half remaining they retook the lead when they crossed again following some interesting decisions by the official at scrumtime.
So the final moments of the half were nothing if not exciting as firstly Macca ran back the restart to the Havant half and then had a short handbags intermission right infront of the crowded stand, following which another of the home side was given 10 and from the resultant lineout in the Havant redzone good work by the backs saw Luke loop around before setting off our Fireman who crossed for a textbook score and with Max adding the extras it was all square when the ref call time to warm up in the changing room.
The first 10 mins of the second period saw Cam really pull out the stops and eventually from an uncontested scrum 10m from the line we saw Macca charge over for another converted try and a 17-24 lead.
At this time neither side could finish the other off and we saw a series of scrums where in most cases the official decided in favour of the home side – which seemed a bit strange to the Watchetts faithful who still have the image of 10 scrums in a row where Havant were penalised in the previous fixture in September, however they even things up with a well worked try on 59 mins.
It took only a few minutes however, for the black and ambers to regain the lead when, from a good scrum in the Havant half, we saw Youngy going over for a well worked 5 points. The game was becoming a tad scrappy by now with both sides striving for the win and increasingly struggling with tiredness and injuries but into the last 10 mins Havant opted for a simple pen to make things tasty at 27-29 but in the dying minutes some magic hands between forwards and backs saw our Fiesty Fireman again in the right place at the right time to force his way over in the corner and although the conversion slid wide the score moved to 34-27 moving into time added on.
Suffice it to say a couple of unforced and uncharacteristic errors from the restart saw the advantage swing to the hosts and in the dying moments they managed to breach the tired Cam defence and score bringing the score to 34-34 at the final whistle with the Cam squad absolutely gutted and the home side jubilant – says it all.

To the neutral this was another exciting display by 2 quality sides both committed to winning and probably sharing the points was a just result although Cam will be wondering on the way home how their scrum, so dominant all season came out second best in the official's eyes today.

However having said all that it was an excellent showing by Cam from #1 to 18 with the pack, as we come to expect putting in a great shift with Tony tackling everything that moved, Shed settling back into the side was always looking dangerous with ball in hand and Voighty making some jolting tackles at key moments in the game. Spencer at #2 again had an immense game and although a couple of his arrows went astray another great performance while Birdy, Hughsey and Macca were simply fantastic.

Young Max and Razor worked much better together today while Connor had his best run out for some time and always looked dangerous with ball in hand while Brizzle managed things well and Youngy, Bowers George and Luke all carried a big threat.

So now the plan, as ever is to take a max from all of the remaining fixtures while hoping that the Seasiders have a blip or 2 along the way.
No game next week and we return to action on the 27th at home when we entertain third placed Tunbridge – there are no easy games in this league.

And Finally – So the C&Ws, having recorded their longest ever losing streak in the Prem last week, travelled to Edinburgh in the Parker Pen Trophy and squeezed a 20-21 win to remain unbeaten at the top of their pool with Castres visiting Castle Grim next week - perhaps this is where they will shine this season!!!

Pic shows Kiwi Tony scoring his first of the afternoon - thanks Dinger