Cambo leave it Soooooooooooo Late

So after the disappointment of last Saturday a visit to one of their bogey teams was definitely not what the squad needed and it took until the final move of the game for Cam to seal victory against the solid, physical and well drilled side from the Sussex Seaside.
Another grey day on the edge of the South Downs was the backdrop for yet another fiesty encounter between 2 well matched sides and despite Cam taking the lead in the second minute they soon found themselves behind and only corrected things with the last move of the game when, following countless, physical carries which eventually took the black and ambers into the redzone more pressure saw the host's fantastic D finally overwhelmed when quick thinking Max spotted a gap which just about fitted his slight frame to claim the touchdown, the win, the tbp while removing the need for the Cam support to require any use of the defibrillator.

The game got off to an electric start with Oli taking the kick off, it was great to see such a skilful centre in black and amber again, and we then saw Max push the resultant pen just into the home 22.
A great catch saw Cam then set up a very optimistic drive from 20m and the home side had no answer when young hooker Spencer crashed over with just 2 mins on the clock.
The game was being played at a frenetic pace and when Ben Harrison was shown yellow 3 mins later Cam started to lose some of the collisions and with Bazza starting on the bench the regular dominance at scrum time was missing. On 14 mins Brighton opened their account with an unconverted try and with the home side creating all of the pressure they had soon moved the score to 12-5 following some time in the Cam red zone.
At this stage Cam were just holding on and can consider themselves a tad fortunate as the hosts managed to miss 2 fairly straightforward penalty attempts and just before the break the Blues added another converted try to their score making it 19-5 when they went in for their warm tea and hot water bottles!!
So with Bazza coming on after the break we soon saw that the Blues were under severe pressure at scrumtime and as a result the Cam backs had some better ball and although Brizzle went off with a nasty looking shoulder injury the backs continued with the momentum and a neat chip over the defensive line was read well by Bowers who collected and had too much gas for the defence to touch down close to the posts for 7 points on 47 mins.
Cam had truly upped their energy levels and despite a phase when the lineout misfired a beautiful long throw on halfway saw Birdy soar above everyone and drop the ball into Max's safe hands and the young 9, as he has done numerous times this season, spotted the gap and leaving the opposition for dead, he scythed through the defence in a 50m dash to dot down under the posts for a converted try to make the score 19-19 with 20 left on the clock.
Cam were now throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the blues but the seasiders worked their socks off to repel the now rampant Cam 15 and in fact took the lead with about 5 mins on the clock with a straightforward pen.
The Blues to their credit then attempted to put the game out of touch by attacking straight from the restart and were soon back in the Cam half but a couple of pens at scrum time saw Cam, with the clock showing just minutes to go, take advantage and again move play deep into the home 22 and when they were awarded a pen infront of the posts, which would have secured the draw, Captain Birdy decided he wanted the win and so opted for another scrum and this then proved to be the start of lots of very physical phases and finally hooker Spencer was almost driven over before the quick thinking Max spotted the ball and the gap to dot the ball down and end what had been an exhausting 80 mins for both sides while spectators from both sides saw their heart rates reaching 'difficult' levels.

Another strange game for the black and ambers with them showing, at times their true quality but so often being drawn into a dog fight which, together with the fact that it is becoming clear that opponents are now aware of our key moves at lineouts and also in the backs perhaps we need to have a rethink over the next couple of weeks.

Overall a good result and great to see Oli and Harrison back in black and amber and I am sure they will add a new dimension to the black and ambers game over the coming weeks. Lots of effort again from the forwards with every man jack of them putting in a great shift while Max 9 is clearly enjoying life at 9 and his 2 tries were both results of his pace and his quick thinking.
The backs, as last week, were confronted by a very determined and physical backline and no doubt will review the video very carefully over the coming week – and lets hope that Brizzle's injury is not too serious as he has been an ever present in the backs this season.

So next week we have a blank weekend before we return to action on the 17th when we entertain Bournemouth who are in a relegation dog fight which suggests yet another very physical 80 mins.

And Finally – well at last the C&Ws managed to end their longest ever losing streak in the Prem with a good solid bonus point win over Sale last Sunday and are back in action in 2 weeks as they play Exeter in the Prem Cup semi so all C&W supporters will hope they can now carry this form into the end of the season clashes.

Pic shows Max scoring his first try - by Dinger