Last Kick Heartache for Battling Cams

The visitors to Watchetts this Saturday were second placed Old Reigatians and the black and ambers were hoping to put their recent poor performances behind them. In fact they played much better in a fiercely contested encounter but lost by just 2 points when ORs converted a penalty with the last kick of the game.
The game started with the ORs kick not making the 10m line and from the resultant scrum on halfway, messy ball was cleaned up by Mac and the ball found its way quickly to Oyoni on his 10m line and to a somewhat surprised opposition he powerfully carved his way through a rather static defence to dot down under the posts with Matt adding the extras with just 3 mins played.
However the visitors came straight back from the restart and having turned over possession they had replied with their own converted try with just 5mins on the clock.
The game again opened up straight from the restart with Tommy A running back two ORs defensive kicks, and with the second one he found HT who made 50m before passing to Laz who had no problems in dotting down for another converted try with just 11 mins played.
From the restart Cam made some ground but a couple of silly penalties saw ORs deep in the home side's 22 and from a scrum 15m out the visitors winger went over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Cam soon found themselves back in their own 22 following another penalty and poor defence saw the blindside winger almost walking in a try direct from a lineout maul so with 22 mins gone the score was 14-17.
Cam came straight back from the restart and from a good scrum we saw the winger butcher a chance by ignoring a three man overlap and chipping to the fullback and this turnover saw the game move immediately to the home 22 and with the black and ambers conceding yet another pen the score moved to 14-20.
From the restart Cam won a penalty which Matt slotted to immediately close the gap but from the restart Cam were turned over again and Reigatians crossed for a converted try.
With the penalty count at this stage 6-1 to Reigatians DoR Risey was not at all happy and when his side lost possession yet again resulting in another converted try for the visitors he was almost apoplectic however from the restart he saw his side regain possession and good work by Mac saw Alex Hughes cross out wide for an unconverted try which brought the score to 22-27 where it remained until halftime - 40 mins of end to end rugby with 7 outstanding tries and some excellent rugby already.
Following a very animated team talk by Risey Cam came out all guns blazing and regaining possession from the restart we saw a series of powerful attacks from the home side only halted illegally by a high tackle and Matt again was accurate with the kick.
Cam then managed the restart well and we saw the ball quickly moved out to Laz who burned off most of the opposition in a 50m blast before feeding Ash who switched on the afterburners to scorch through and touch down under the posts for a converted try, the lead and the try bonus point.
At this stage Cam were clearly starting to take control of the game but on several occasions they let opportunities slip when various players experienced 'whitewash fever' and, credit to the visitors, they never gave up and following a yellow card for Cam their concerted pressure in the top corner eventually resulted in a penalty try which made the score 32-34 with 10mins to play.
Cam the turned up the pressure again and we saw replacement prop Dave Moore earn a scrum penalty on the visitors 10m and up steppped young Matt to slot it home and in so doing retake the lead.
In fact he was extremely unlucky with a very similar opportunity a few mins later when his kick hit the wrong side of the post but ORs were not prepared to concede defeat with only 20 mins left and only great defence from Cam kept them out, however in the dying moments Cam conceded another soft penalty and with what was to be the last kick of the game the ORs fly half calmly slotted over his kick to record the narrowest of victories.
For the general spectator this was a veritable feast of fast open rugby and for the visiting supporters, who even managed to out shout our own SCRUFFS, it was a great result while for the home supporters it had been a great spectacle but 3 points lost.
This certainly was a much improved performance by Cam after the last two weeks but again this was a game which, with just a little more thought and control, should have been won with 3 or 4 tries left on the park together with some poor defensive work.
However this young team have again learned that to prosper in this league they need to be much more accurate, look after the ball better, not let the opposition make 5m before they are tackled and play at 100% for the whole 80mins.
Having said all of that it really was an exhilarating game with 9 excellent tries from 2 sides who never gave up. There were some great performances across the Camberley team with young Mac and Dylan outstanding in the pack and Matt settling in well at 10. In fact the backs in attack must still be the envy of every team in the league. And finally it was good to see veteran Tommy A showing off his many skills with a virtuoso performance at 15.
Next weekend is a blank so Risey has given the boys a weekend off but no doubt he will already be planning for the next League game away against Winchester the following week.
It was double disappointment for Camberley as the 2s lost 22-26 to ORs 2s.
And Finally a C&W update - with the boys playing Sarries tomorrow there are no results to report but the rumours seem to be growing that there may be a very wealthy suitor about to invest in Gloucester - The Future's Bright - its Cherry and White

Pic by Sebastien Billard
Cam lineout - from left Dan Neal, Hoff, Voighty, Alex Hughes, Josh Watson and Dan Harvey