Cam Serve up Nine Try Christmas Special

This weekend saw the second half of the League programme commence with Cam travelling to Andover who, at Watchetts in September, had provided strong opposition before tiring in the closing minutes allowing the black and ambers to eventually claim a bonus point win.
Thankfully the grey and misty Camberley weather disappeared as we arrived in Andover and with a firm pitch conditions were ideal for the visitors.
The game started with Cam unable to manage the kick off successfully and so the physical Andover pack had a period of pressure on and around the black and ambers 22 but with the black and ambers superb defensive drills the hosts could not breach the line and eventually the turnover ball was cleared to relative safety by Smarty.
Cam then won an Andover lineout on their 10m line and a good break by hooker Dylan saw the ball eventually recycled allowing Smarty to move play into the opposition 22.
We then witnessed a passage of play which was repeated regularly, obviously with variations in the players involved each time, throughout the course of the game and which proved the downfall of the home side as they seemed unable to retain possession and continually kicked to the Cam back three. So the first poor kick from defence was fielded by fullback TommyA who made the initial yards before feeding Oyoni who set Laz up for a dart into the opposition red area before desperate tackling brought him down but from the recycled ball an outrageous cross field kick almost brought the first try
A second poor kick was then fielded by Ash who failed to find Laz for what would have been an easy try but he soon redeemed himself when a good lineout drive saw him cross on the blind side in the corner after 15 mins of play.
The restart was well taken by Hughsey who broke to halfway and with Cam rampant at that time another poor defensive kick was again fielded by TommyA and he and Oyoni on the right exchanged passes several times as they shredded the defense for Oyoni to dot down again in the corner and with Smarty adding the extras the score was 12-0 after 18 mins.
Andover were not to be outdone and they turned over the restart and again applied great pressure in the Cam red zone and eventually were awarded a penalty which reduced the deficit to 9 points after 23 mins.
However this respite for the home side was very brief as Cam came straight back from their restart and claimed possession and a great miss pass saw Ash stroll over from the hosts 10m line to dot down to make the score 3-17 with the extras and just 26 mins played
Another good take from the restart again saw Hughsey make 20m before passing to Laz who took play back into the Andover 22 where Cam were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Smarty converted.
The drills at the restart were again repeated, this time quick recycling saw Ollie Wright receive the ball on halfway and his sheer pace destroyed the opposition for the bonus point try which was again converted.
Within a minute Cam had forged further ahead with a third try for Ash which came from the black and ambers turning over possession in the Andover backs and Ollie fly hacking the ball forward for brother Ash to collect and score.
In the dying minutes of the half Andover pressure from the restart was finally rewarded when they crossed for a converted try on the stroke of half time making the score at the break 10-34.
History shows that when Cam have a heathy lead and bonus point in the bag by half time things seem to 'relax' somewhat in the second half and systems and processes tend to be 'overlooked' and despite the rousing instructions from DoR Risey and our very vocal Yorky, skipper Roger Wood, this is exactly what happened, with the hosts starting the stronger and claiming a converted try from a quick tapped penalty with 49 mins played.
But incredibly they had not learned the lesson from the first half to hold on to the ball at all costs and definitely not to kick loosely to the Cam back three and so we saw Cam running ball back at every opportunity with an outrageous cross field kick from Oyoni on the right to Tagg on the left which the young winger was just unable to gather for another certain try but the next try was soon to follow as from the scrum Cam actually won the ball and we saw Tagg cross in the corner after 53 mins.
Andover managed to regain possession from the restart but lacking any ideas as to how to break the Camberley defensive line their passing became more erratic leading to a smart interception on halfway by Flyer Ash to dot down for another converted try making the score 17-46 with 60 mins on the clock.
By this time the Cam players were all wanting to show off their skills and from another defensive kick we saw the back three take the ball forward before releasing Laz who, picking the ball off his toes at speed, raced through the Andover defence only to drop the ball over the line while trying to execute some fancy touch down. At least he will have learned from that and this time it had no impact on the result!!
At this time the hosts were visibly tiring and again a dropped pass on their 10m line saw Oyoni hack it forward to collect and touch down with 65 on the clock.
Almost immediately cam again turned over the Andover possession and we saw centre Ollie race over from 30m to score a converted try making the score 17-60.
In the dying seconds Andover came again and scored a converted try with the final play of the game.
Another outstanding display by the black and ambers who, although still second at most of the set scrums, were pretty dominant in all other areas around the park with Voight and Hughsey managing to successfully disrupt the opposition lineouts.
It was also good to see how much progress has been made with the pack since the September with Dan Harvey adding strength and solidity at loosehead and well supported by Dylan and Dan Neal.
The second row was changed this weekend with the absence of the normally ever present Hoff but Hughsey stepped up and although not as familiar with the darker, physical battles which are bread and butter to Hoff and Sam he added his ball carrying talents to what was a very open game.
The backrow were again outstanding with the new partnership of Josh Watson and TK in the flanks both to the fore in attack and defence and the ever present Mac at 8 again putting a big shift.
Skipper Woody, our little Yorky, was again an inspiration to the team - from minute 1 he didn't stop shouting orders and also encouragement to his team and happily this form continued throughout the return coach trip and the subsequent Players Xmas dinner where he was ably supported by Ash and Will O providing a great finish to the lads 2016 playing programme.
Young Smarty at 10 is clearly growing with every game as he works to put his own stamp on the black and ambers game plan and with TommyD due to return after his serious ankle injury earlier in the season Risey and JJ have some very interesting selection decisions infront of them which is great for the team.
Todays centre partnership of Ollie and Laz worked very well and the side benefited from Ollie's physicality in attack and defence together with his pace.
However from a purely spectator perspective the stand out performers this week were the back three - 'almost veteran' TommyA, Ash and Oyoni each of them terrorising the opposition every time they ran back the many loose kicks, showing outrageous pace and also great skills.
So a great way to close down 2016 with the side sitting in a handy 3rd position and certainly capable of much more in the second half of the season.
So if you have managed to get all the way through the report I would like, on behalf of the club and the players to wish you a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2017.
And Finally the C&Ws, following their bonus point win over La Rochelle last week at Castle Grim, were unable to repeat the result in France this Saturday and so sit joint top of their group table in the ECC. However there are also many rumours of a French Takeover in the air so could we become known as the Cerise et Blancs in the near future??