1st XV
Matches
Sat 24 Nov 2018  ·  London South 1
Camberley Rugby Football Club
1st XV
Tries: M Duaibe, J Lewantuva (3), D Emerton Conversions: M Smart (5)Penalties: M Smart (4)
54
22
Westcombe Park
Cam return to winning ways with a hard fought win  over Westcombe Park

Cam return to winning ways with a hard fought win over Westcombe Park

Roger Berry25 Nov 2018 - 10:47
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.camberleyrugbyclub

Cam take maximum points in a good game in which dominance up front was the key

On a grey and slightly damp November afternoon the Watchetts faithful arrived hopeful that their team could bounce back from the disappointment of last week although it was clear that today's visitors Westcombe Park, who played in London Premier last season and who are clearly keen to return there at the first time of asking, would provide yet another stiff challenge for Risey's squad.
In fact we saw two well matched teams competing well all over the park for 70 mins or so but with Cam establishing real dominance in the scrum and lineout the black and ambers always held the advantage until 3 sin bins for the visitors helped the home side's points difference which now sees them leading the League's points for as well as also having the meanest defence.
The game got of to a bright start with Cam soon moving the ball sweetly and when Voighty ran a great line he took play into the opposition half before the ball was knocked on.
A good scrum followed and with the visitors penalised twice in quick succession we saw Cam scrumming down 5m out and a good pick up by Mac saw the #8 over in the corner with just 5 mins played and with Smarty knocking over the conversion from close to the touchline to add the extras.
Although the restart was handled well Cam then conceded a couple of penalties of their own and on 13 min the visitors crossed for an unconverted try.
As in so many games conceding a try often sparks a Cam reaction and they were back on the scoreboard within 2 mins when great work by Mac and Ash saw The Flying Fijian racing down the touch line juggling the ball as well as fending off a number of attempts to tackle him as he touched down wide out and with Smarty producing yet another excellent kick the score had moved to 14-5 on 16 mins.
Again the black and ambers handled the restart well and a great run by Dyl followed by a great line by Josh Wright saw the centre almost through,The resulting scrum saw Cam awarded their first of many penalties and when the visitors decided to discuss matters with the official the ball was moved 10m closer to their line and Smarty popped over the pen to extend the lead on 20 mins.
Again almost directly from the restart we had another exhibition of outstanding team rugby as Cam moved the ball from one side of the pitch to the other and it seemed that it was impossible not to score but somehow at the crucial point the ball was lost and good running by Westcombe Park aided by a drop off in concentration by Cam saw the visitors cross for a converted try on 24 mins.
Cam immediately responded to this when excellent running by forwards and backs saw Dyl cross for a try which Smarty again converted from the touchline for a 24-12 scoreline on 28 mins.
Cam then were reduced to 14 men for 10 mins and the visitors made the most of the man advantage to add a penalty and a converted try to their score to make it 24-22 with 35 mins on the clock in what was turning out to be a tight game although Smarty did add another 3 points to extend the lead to 27-22 just before half time.
The game remained extremely competitive as the second half started with Smarty adding penalties on 46 and 52 mins to extend the lead.
By now the Cam scrum was now dominant even with Nick Barry off with concussion and the lineout was functioning well and we saw Voighty and Hughsey stealing opposition throws on our 5m line and with this dominance there came an increase in the number of penalties awarded to the black and ambers until the official decided to bin one of the visitors front row and so the game moved to uncontested scrums.
Cam then made great efforts to extend their lead by stretching the visitors defence and following a series of catch and drives which were all stopped illegally the ref awarded a penalty try.
At this point the visiting side's control disappeared and they were reduced to 12 players and in time added on Cam managed to move the ball out wide to the Flying Fijian on 2 occasions and each time his power and pace saw him swatting off all attempts to tackle him and with Smarty adding the extras the final score had moved to 54-22.
So overall a disappointing end to what had been a good competitive game with Cam always just in control due to their dominance at the scrum and lineout but apart from that two very evenly matched sides with really good attacking flair even if both suffered at times from a bit of shadow tackling.
What a shift from the pack with the front row really dominating their opposite numbers and Dyl also adding a lot of stability at the lineout and loads of energy across the park.
Hoff and Voighty together with the backrow of The Warrior, Hughsey and Mac had immense games both in attack and in defence and the whole eight have developed tremendously since our first outing this season at Brighton.
Much the same can be said about the backs with Youngsey growing in confidence in each game, Smarty's kicking from the tee becoming very consistent and still the power and pace of the backs which is as always a joy to watch even though slick handling on your own line against good opposition is often not good for the blood pressure.
So next week the 1s are away at Tottonians in what will be another good test for the squad.
It was Win Win Win at Watchetts however because as well as the 1s getting the result the 2s saw off Farnham 2s 36-17 in their Surrey Cup game while the extra 3s beat Met Police 2s 81-5.
And Finally – not such good news for the C&Ws as they went down 23-6 at Sandy Park which is not too good an omen as they play The Chiefs again home and away in their European Cup Group games over the December period.

Match details

Match date

Sat 24 Nov 2018

Kickoff

14:30

Competition

London South 1

League position

3
Camberley
5
Westcombe Park
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

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