1st XV
Matches
Sat 08 Sep 2018  ·  London South 1
Camberley Rugby Football Club
1st XV
Tries: A Gould, A Hughes, J Lewantuva (2), H Tagg, D Emerton (2), T AllenConversions: M Smart (7)
54
26
Havant
Eight Try Cam get League Season up and running

Eight Try Cam get League Season up and running

Roger Berry8 Sep 2018 - 19:36
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An outstanding first period sees Cam score 7 tries in their first home league game of the season

The day started with all home games starting with a minute silence in memory of Richard Jones who, until this season appeared regularly for the 2s, 3s and Vets, and who tragically died this week. It goes without saying that the thoughts of all the club members are with Richard's family at this difficult time.
So following their rather disappointing performance at the seaside last week the supporters were looking for a distinct improvement from their team against the experienced side from Havant and with the black and ambers playing with a slight breeze towards the clubhouse on a bright afternoon their wishes were granted in spades for the first 40 mins when, playing some scintillating rugby, they ran in 7 tries superb tries to lead 47-0 at the break.
Cam got the scoreboard moving after just 4 mins when following intense pressure on the visitors line we saw Hoff pick up at the back of a ruck and force himself over for his first of the season, converted by Smarty.
Mr Doody was back changing the numbers again when almost from the restart Cam drove forward eventually through Oyoni who provided the scoring pass to Hughsey and with 7 mins on the clock the score had moved to 14-0.
Again the restart was handled well and Cam were completely dominating the visitors across the park and came close several times following a great lineout drive from the visitors 22 but on 13 mins the ball was swung wide and The Flying Fijian showed his pace and skill to slice through the visitors defence and dot down under the posts and so with less than 13 mins gone the score had moved to 21-0.
The supporters had to wait almost 10 mins for the next score which came when JamieT, following up a kick into the visitors 22, managed to charge it down and HT was on hand to pick up the rebound and trot over under the posts.
At this stage the visitors had not managed to get any time on the ball and on the rare occasions when they did see possession they seemed incapable of breaking through the black and amber's defence and with their scrum seemingly permanently in reverse their opportunities were very limited and so it was no surprise that on 29 mins Cam went further ahead when, following a series of phases the ball found our outstanding hooker Dyl who stepped and dummied his way over from about 20m (I suspect that by the end of the evening this may well have been increased to 100m!) and it was Dyl who, 3 mins later, was again dotting down following an exquisite chip over the defence from Smarty.
At 40 points to nil, frankly the performance had already way surpassed the hopes and dreams of those supporters who had made the trip to Brighton last week but we then had the sight of TommyA showing all of his skills and pace to score a brilliant individual try from deep inside his half. Despite the countless shouts of 'give it Tommy' from his fellow players and supporters alike he, as is his wont, dummied, stepped and burned off the entire Havant team to dot down, albeit looking very tired, under the posts for the last action of the half making the score 47-0.
In countless reports I have cobbled together over the years I have many times commented on the ability of all Cam sides to take their foot off the gas when a reasonable lead has been established and today was no exception as whatever the coaches had to say at the break had absolutely no impact on the players (perhaps it was the Welsh??). So we saw all of the good things the side did in the first half ie pace around the park, physicality and real intent in the tackle to name but three quietly disappear and this allowed the visitors, to their immense credit, to get back into the game even if realistically their goal could only have been to minimise the score and perhaps pick up a point somehow.
In truth from a Camberley perspective the least said about second 40 mins the better as apart from another scything run by JoshL for try #8 all of the action cam from the visitors who bravely went looking for some glory and it came when on the stroke of time they finally crossed for their fourth try and a well deserved bonus point with the Camberley coaching team becoming apoplectic on the touchline.
So at least for the supporters the first 40 mins were absolutely outstanding with some stunning rugby played by the whole team and they will hope for more of that in the next game. The pack clearly moved up a gear from last week as they continue to settle into this new level and the return of Hoff and Hughsey certainly helped. The backs were also very much more on the pace in that first forty despite the wholesale changes which were forced on them just minutes before ko with both the Wright bros pulling out through injury and Lils and Oyoni forming a new centre partnership only for that to be changed yet agai when Lils was injured in the first 10 mins which brought JoshL into 13.
The second half will no doubt be discussed at length and then just put down to experience as this young side get to grips with this new level of rugby and I am sure that a number of them will already be upping their fitness regime's to match the new requirements of this League.
The other 2 games a Watchetts saw Cam 2's playing Havant 2s in the Zoo league and the black and ambers won their second game of the season 41-7 and the 3s won their final pre season friendly 76-19 against Cobham 3s - so overall a very promising set of results indicating serious SiD at the club.
Next week 1s and 2s are again at home with the 1s entertaining Dartfordians and the 2s playing Maidenhead 2s - both league games.
And Finally - well the C&W's managed to convert a 21-0 lead into a 31-31 scoreline at the Wreck and claiming 3 points which probably represents a good afternoon's work although to mislay such a lead might be considered careless - however they will have the chance to put things right when Brizzle visit Castle Grim on Friday.

Match details

Match date

Sat 08 Sep 2018

Kickoff

05:00

Competition

London South 1

League position

7
Camberley
13
Havant
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Ticket Sponsor - Oval Peak
Social Media - Maximus 1,2,3,4 Food Plan
Gold Sponsor - Sanjha