Cam Clinch League Title with hard fought Victory over Old Reigatians.

So Saturday saw Watchetts set up for something special with Old Reigatians 1s and 2s hoping to reverse the scores from earlier in the season and Chobham looking to beat our 3s/Development squad and of course the CRFC Beer festival complete with Hog Roast, Pimms by the pint and a selection of great real ale.
Unfortunately the weather did not entirely match the occasion being rather damp but the day got off with the 2s scoring 4 tries in the first 15 mins in their early kick off match before the game was temporarily interrupted however this did not impact the final result as they consolidated their position at the top of their league with a convincing 46 – 26 win over ORs 2s.
Meanwhile the 1s knew they had the opportunity to win the League outright while their opposition were realistically focussed on amassing as many League points as possibe to ensure a home draw in the promotiopn play offs.
After a scrappy opening 5 mins Cam took play into the visitors half and TommyD gratefully accepted the chance to start the scoreboard moving when, after 6 mins, he converted a penalty.
However Cam were unable to capitalize on the gift as their play lacked the accuracy required to make progress against such a competent team as ORs.
In fact the visitors took the lead on 14 mins with a converted try and added another with 20 mins on the clock both well taken tries after black and ambers errors.
And in fact it was an ORs error which created the next score as when they knocked on in the Cam 22 The Flying Fijian was first to react and surged upfield and when caught popped the ball to Mac in support for a converted try to make the score 10-12 after 30 mins.

The restart was well managed by Hughsey and good breaks by Oyoni and Josh Wright took play into the ORs half before a neat chip by Dyl found touch just short of the visitors line and several phases saw TommyD with the opportunity to take Cam into the lead with a penalty making the score 13-12 on 39 mins and despite several dangerous looking breaks that remained the score at the break.

The second half started with a bang for the Black and ambers as they won a penalty from the restart and when play moved into the red zone we saw a great drive from the lineout and #8 Mac chose his moment to perfection to peel off and touch down in the corner and despite TommyD's conversion attempt hitting the post the score had moved to 18-12.
The restart again worked well but 2 sloppy pens conceded saw ORs back in the Cam 22 and on 48 mins they reduced the gap to 3 points with a penalty.
Having reclaimed the restart we again saw several big carries from Cam with a beautiful interchange between Josh Wright and the Flying Fijian and with this pressure the ORs defence finally took it too far and were left with 14 men for 10mins and from the resulting scrum we saw the visitors pack walking backwards leaving #8 Mac to dot down for a score which was converted by TommyD.
To their credit ORs were certainly up for the fight and again lack of concentration by Cam saw the visitors claim another converted try on 54 mins to reduce the deficit to 3 points.
However to their credit this young Cam side came straight back and great drives by Hoff and then a very physical dart by the Flying Fijian took play deep into the visitors 22 and when Cam won a ORs scrum on the 5m line Mac was first to react and crashed over in the corner for another unconverted try with 60 mins played and the bonus point secured.
The game was still being played at a frenetic pace with no holds barred as both sides strove to establish superiority and it was Cam who struck next following several penalty awards the ball was swung out wide and eventually it was Oyoni who dived into the corner making the score 35 – 22 with just a couple of mins left.
To their credit the visitors battled on and with the last action of the game they scored a try wide out which was expertly converted and earned them 2 points which was in truth a fair reward for the effort they had put in all afternoon.

So not the demonstration of flowing 15 man rugby that many have become used to but following the tough game at Charlton Park which had robbed the side of 4 players and faced by the best team we have played so far this season who themselves had their own goals, this squad again, when it mattered came together to claim the win.
So with 2nd place pretty much assured for ORs we can only wish them all the best in the playoffs and hope to see them again next season.

With the League now decided all eyes are on next week and the Regional Final of the Naional Intermediate Cup (London and SE Division v South West ) at Coney Hill ( Gloucester) and the hope is that Sophie and Liv will be able to work their magic again on the players missing this week so that we can travel down the M4 at pretty much full strength.

Making it a hattrick of wins the 3s recorded a 55-20 win over Chobham.

And Finally – well the C&Ws managed to claim 5 points on their visit to the Mad Stad in what appears to have been a somewhat patchy performance and are now off to Connacht in the next round of the Bic Biro Euros before returning to Premiership action with away games against the Chiefs and Sorries plus home games against **** and The Queens – 4 games to decide if they will play in the grown up European Competition next season.

Fantastic Pics courtesy of Lee from Scrumpix