Cam maintain push for League Title with comfortable win over New Milton

With visitors New Milton desperate for the points to give themselves a chance of London rugby for a third season, this game was always going to be tricky for Risey's young squad and although the black and ambers scored 9 tries there was considerable dismay among the squad that, when reduced to 13 they conceded 2 late tries and handed the visitors a try bonus point.
Despite the fact that we are now technically in Spring, the violent hailstorm just before the game and a temperature which barely rose above freezing, did little to encourage many of the supporters, who had enjoyed the Golden Oldies Lunch put on by George and Ron, to venture onto the park for the early part of the game.
With Cam playing away from the club the visitors were first to switch on and , despite a very good scrum by Cam, they were able to sneak round the front of the lineout to score the first try of the game with just 3 mins on the clock.
This clearly had the desired affect as, from the restart, Cam turned over the ball and after several phases saw space appear in the defence with Phil crossing in the corner for the first try with just 6mins gone.
The restart by the visitors saw Cam again work the ball out of their 22 and great vision by Will O'Meara set Joe Wood charging into the opposition half and with Phil Cresswell committing the final defender he fed Ash Wright who dotted down for a try with only 8 mins of play making the score 10-5.
Cam then emphasised their superiority just 8 mins later when from a good scrum #8 Mac took the ball forward and when the it was recycled Laz made a great break before the ball came to Warrior Watson who could easily have made the 20m to the line but unselfishly or was he tired?? fed 'The Flyer' who dotted down in the corner for his second of the game.
Things got even worse for the visitors, who perhaps at this time were regretting their early try, when again almost from the restart Alex Hughes, resplendent with his newly acquired 'top knot' collected a New Milton kick in his 22. His electric running saw him brush of numerous defenders as he charged into the visitors half before feeding Phil for the winger to dot down for his 3rd and his sides 4th try with barely 20min played.
At this stage it was simply all Cam as, from the restart, play soon returned to the visitors half and when they were penalised Will O'Meara safely found touch on 5m where the lineout was won and following a short drive Alex, of the top knot, spun off the maul to dot down in the corner - 5 tries and only 25 mins gone. At this stage you will probably notice that there has been no report of any conversions or extras being added - that's because regular kicker TommyD was huddled up on the touchline feeling sorry for himself with a dose of man flu and our Welsh Wizard was complaining of a tight hamstring - suffice it to say that Cam did not manage any successful conversion attempts during the entire game.
So those regular supporters will not be surprised to hear that Cam began to lose their intensity (how many different ways can I say 'took the foot off the pedal'?) and having messed up the visitors restart we had the rare sight of skipper Woodsy being asked to take a 10 mins breather following an alleged misdemeanour in his 22. Well this meant that the remaining 14 were deprived of his Yorkshire terrier inspired yapping particularly the forwards and a period of almost calm descended over Watchetts.
This also heralded a period of little action until, after much persistence against 14 the visitors managed a converted try on the stroke of half time.
The second half started with a another shock for the visitors when Hughsey climbed high to collect the Cam kick off and the ball was quickly shipped out wide with Mac held up over the line.
The resultant scrum was again won by Cam and when the ball was moved out wide Ash crossed for his second of the game with only 44 mins played making the score 30-12.
Again, from the restart a few errors started to creep in but a powerful break by centre Joe Wood saw play again move into the visitors red zone and although the home side on that occasion conceded a penalty they were soon back on the visitors 22 and a great line by lock Greg Wilmington saw him charge over for an excellent score with just 50mins gone.
We then had another piece of individual brilliance when tight head Dan collected the restart in his 22 and made almost 40m stepping some defenders and simply brushing others off as he scorched through the opposition before setting up a ruck and after a couple of quick phases Ash again crossed for his hat trick, Cams eighth try and a score of 40-12 with 55 mins played.
The game became a bit looser at this time although the visitors, to their credit, did maintain their discipline and with Cam, having unloaded their bench through injuries, were further depleted when they won another yellow. Despite their numerical advantage the visitors found it extremely difficult to penetrate the home defence with 10+ phases played and no yards gained in one passage of play and with almost 70 mins on the clock Cam swept forward again with Alex Hughes dotting down for his third of the afternoon making it 45-12.
At this stage Cam were down to 13 men with yet another yellow and the visitors took full advantage of this numerical superiority to score 2 unconverted tries and secure their own try bonus point.
Again a very competent performance by the black and ambers against a dogged opponent whose position in the league, 11th, does not reflect their ability - and with other challengers faltering Risey's boys managed to extend their lead at the top to 14 points with just 4 games left.
With another week off Gareth will be hoping that the injuries picked up today are not too severe as he will need a strong squad for the next fixture against second placed Old Tonbridgians on the 19th.
Please note that this game is scheduled to be played at Watchetts on the 19th as OTs have no pitch available at Richmond Park that weekend and we have agreed to host it - ko is currently 3.00
It is good to report that the 2s also won away at Exiles 17-5 with tries by Andy Wreakes and Mike Parnaby and conversions and pens by TommyA who was having his first run out following an injury layoff.
And finally, what great news from Castle Grim where the C&Ws managed to topple form team Wasps, apparently deservedly winning 13-10 and so improving their chances of a top 6 finish - and European Cup Rugby next season - although they will get that when the retain the European Challenge Cup in May!!
The picture shows skipper Woodsy in happier times!!!