Careless Cambo Claim Five Point Max

The second trip into the depths of Hampshire in two weeks was always going to be difficult as games at Winchester invariably prove to be very competitive and for the first 60 mins history was repeated with the home side grinding out a 16 point lead just after the break which in itself had probably produced the most interest up until that point.
During the first half 'Super Sophie' our physio was asked to attend to the ref who was clearly not well and with 10 mins of the 1st half still to play the official announced that he was just not able to continue suggesting that the fixture should be replayed at a later date. At that time it was clear that Winchester who were leading by 2 tries to nothing wanted to continue while Cambo seemed quite relaxed about a rerun following 30 mins of, not to put too fine a point on it, atrocious rugby from them.
However, just like Batman, an alternative ref appeared in a flash and with all parties agreeing the game was then allowed to continue although the only score of the remaining 10mins of the first half saw Winchester add a penalty to their points total.
The half time 'chat' saw a super animated DoR (Risey) expressing his view on what had been a very poor first half with Cambo falling off tackles, throwing impossible passes, losing the ball in contact and just simply not playing to anything like the game plan - it seemed thateveryone just wanted to play training pitch rugby without first establishing the right to do so.
So enough said of the first 40, the hopes of the Cam supporters were further dashed as they conceded yet another penalty immediately after the halftime restart, probably the 12th or 13th to date, and so the Winchester kicker was pleased to add the 3 points.
From the restart Cam for once managed to keep the hosts in their own 22 and when Josh L fielded a defensive kick and ran 50m taking play again into the Winchester red zone before losing possession this pressure was maintained. Again a defensive kick by Winchester failed to make touch and Tom Allen fed Josh L and with quick hands we saw Oyoni feed Ash who dotted down wide out for the black and ambers first score and so after 45 mins the score was 16-5.
Even at this stage to the discerning eye it was clear that the home side wanted the game far more and following a sloppy restart Cam were lucky to be awarded a scrum from which Ash and Josh L again combined to take play back into the Winchester 22 before conceding another penalty.
However from a great scrum in the Winchester half the ball was swiftly moved across to Oyoni who was held up just short of the line but quick recycling saw Hughsey take the ball on before Oyoni got a second bite at the cherry and crossed on the corner, so with 60mins on the clock the score was 16-10.
The restart saw a typical Cambo move with Hoff collecting the kick and the ball being shipped out at pace to Ash who interchanged passes with JoshL and slice through a defence which was beginning to tire before Ash dotted down to make the score 16-15.
From the restart however the home side were awarded a penalty which they gratefully accepted to stretch their lead to 4 points but by now it was clear that the momentum was with the black and ambers and although both Hughsey and TommyA were held up just short this time discipline prevailed and several phases later The Warrior, whose appearance in the second half had added a huge amount to the black and ambers defence, crashed over from 5m and with Oyoni converting Cambo were in front for the first time in the afternoon.
Again the restart saw good exit drills from Cam with TommyA, Hughsey and our schizo prop/winger Steve H (actually he is improving as a prop every week) and Ash all taking part before releasing Ben Bowen down the touchline for the final score which was converted by Oyoni, denying the hosts even a losing bonus point when for most of the game their supporters were expecting the win.
So overall a pretty poor performance from Cambo particularly for the first 60 mins when basically they didn't have sufficient respect for their opponents and assumed that in the end they would score more points than their hosts - reminiscent of Kevin Keegan's mantra when at Newcastle, I believe, when his philosophy was that his side would always score more goals than their opponents - surely a recipe for disaster. Basically in that first hour Cambo's protection of the ball was laughable with loose passes appearing all over the park together with the unbelievable desire to kick the ball away instead of protecting it and building pressure. To be fair Winchester also played very well for 60 mins with lots of discipline and physicality but with a penalty count against the black and ambers in the high teens and the number of missed tackles greater than 20 (no more fingers and toes left) Risey and his team will have plenty to work on in the week.
On the plus side it was encouraging to watch the scrum taking control in the later stages, JoshL with his very physical and pacey runs down the flanks which are also now beginning to link with support runners, the pace that Ben Bowen is bringing to the breakdown area - all he needs to do now is up his game management role and increase the decibels and finally the dynamism and physicality that The Warrior brought to the defence when he came on just before half time.
Next week we entertain our old adversaries Old Tonbridgians who, until today, have made a pretty slow start to the season - anyone wanting to go to the pre match lunch should contact Lydia, Mike Courtness or Harry Fish - ko 3.00.
And Finally for those suffering C&W supporters out there it was clearly Black Friday as they slumped to a humongous defeat in Manchester - one to move on from - I suspect that training down at Hartpury could be a tad fiesty this coming week.