Improving Cam reach half century against league leaders Chichester

With visitors Chichester leading the table with a 3-0 record after the opening games, Saturdays meeting at Watchetts offered a new challenge for the black and ambers who, following a poor start to the season, had been showing gradual improvement over the last few games.
In the event Cam were just too good for the South Coast side who never really recovered from a dramatic score by out Fijian Flyer in minute 1 and eventually, despite a plucky fight, conceded 8 tries without managing to move their side of the scoreboard from 0.
With Cam receiving the the kick off, defending the clubhouse end, the crowd were treated to some really outstanding rugby as, after a couple of phases, the ball was suddenly spread wide by Smarty, who had an excellent game, and with centre Brizzle first making good yards from his 22 and his offload to Jos saw the other centre crash through some poor Chichester tackles to dot down out wide and when Smarty kicked a majestic conversion from the touchline the visiting supporters guessed that they were in for a tough afternoon.
The restart was collected by the visitors but as we would see on numerous occasions their attempts to break through the Cam defence were not successful and so after a few attempts the 10 resorted to kicking for territory.
And the next score was not too long coming when Smarty put a penalty onto the Chichester 10m and the lineout drive made 15m and when skipper Tom made a dart for the line he was momentarily held up but good support saw the ball recycled quickly and winger Ash strolled over to dot down under the posts with just 10 mins played.
The next 15 mins saw Cam gaining the upper hand particularly in the tight and after the visitors had fluffed an easy opportunity for 3 points and on 25 mins we saw #8 Ed charge 20m into the opposition half and again the ball was recycled quickly and it was Jos again crossing for another well executed score.
At this stage the visitors were still fighting their corner but a turning point came when they had a 5m scrum in clubhouse corner but just were not able to break the Cam D and when the black and ambers won the ball play moved quickly into the visitors half and a penalty saw Cam with another 5m lineout. Great execution again and an unstoppable drive saw Big Dom claiming the score and with a rare miss by Smarty the score had moved to 26-0 on 38 mins and the tbp secured. In fact, from the restart Cam again found themselves camped on the visitors goal line but were held up just short as the ref blew for half time.
The second half began in much the same way as the first and good exit processes saw Smarty almost achieve the new 50/22 but that was not an issue as when Cam regained the ball we saw Jos held up just short of the Chichester line and when the black and ambers won the Chichester ball again it was Big Dom crashing over for his second of the afternoon with just 4 mins of the half played.
Chichester then had a few minutes of possession but again when they were turned over another fantastic kick by Smarty saw the ball move deep into the visitors half and 2 great drives later our Ozzie Mole emerged from the mass of bodies to claim the score on 55 mins.
The next 20 mins saw the game become scrappy with both sides suffering some injuries but on 75 mins we saw a lovely piece of play when Smarty produced a superb crossfield kick/pass to Brizzle and when he was stopped who was there but the Flying Fijian to make it 3 for the afternoon and this was quickly followed by Big Dom walking through a 5m line out to claim his 3rd of the afternoon and with Smarty adding the extras with another excellent kick the final score was 52-0.
This was a much improved performance by the black and ambers and both skipper Tom and defence coach Sam agreed that the squad is slowly building week on week and also the newer players have an increasing confidence in the processes resulting in play becoming much more controlled. Both players also agreed that the team was growing in its togetherness and this was something clearly witnessed by the spectators.
DoR Risey was also pleased with the performance believing that the side's powerful start in both halves played a big part in the result and although there were quiet periods he felt that Smarty had one of his best games both in kicking and also generally managing the game.
Risey believes that it is absolutely necessary to carry on this momentum to Ironsides next Saturday, a team with whom Cam have enjoyed many close encounters, if they are to consolidate their position in the top 3.

And Finally – well not the best result for the C&Ws on Friday when they lost to Tigers at home but some signs of turning the corner did seem to appear and by claiming 2 points they have managed to move away from bottom spot. Next week they are away at the Warriors and so another 8 pointer awaits. The other good news is that almost 12K turned up at Castle Grim which must have been a bit of a shock for some of the players from both sides who have never played in front of a real crowd.

Pic by Dinger shows hat trick man Big Dom surveying the scene