Cam claim another max against plucky Cornish

At this stage of the season, with the league table so tight at the top, each game for the black and ambers becomes tougher as last weekend and this Saturday have shown, when teams in the lower reaches of the league look to dent Cam's unbeaten run but despite a brave performance from the visitors the home side had just too much quality across the park and in the end extended their unbeaten run to 12 games.

On this bright February day with a stiff chill breeze blowing almost across the park we saw Cam open proceedings playing away from the clubhouse and immediately regain the kick off and a great break by young H saw an almost perfect start thwarted by a careless knock on in the Cornish 22.
However this only gave Cam the platform for their first score of the afternoon when the ball was pushed out wide to Brizzle we saw the centre feed Hughsey before Tom crossed for the first score of the afternoon with just 3 mins played.
A majestic conversion from the touchline into the strong breeze by Liam added the icing to the cake.

In these early minutes Cam were certainly on the boil and were soon back in the red zone but despite several promising lineout drives close to the try line they were unable to break down the dogged Cornish defence and on 17 mins a rare Cornish visit to the Cam half saw their #10 convert a penalty from 40m.

By this time the Cam scrum was claiming dominance as too was the lineout but despite this the next score came when Fireman George collected a defensive kick on half way and great hands and also running lines by the backs saw him, H and Oyoni exchanging passes before young H crashed over in the corner and another glorious kick from Liam saw the score move to 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Cornish, however were soon back in the game when from the restart they punished some sloppy defending with a pen to narrow the margin and on 35 mins they took advantage of more poor defence by the black and ambers when they scored in the corner to make the score 14-11.
This score certainly seemed to fire up Cam, or was it the thought of what Risey would say at the break, but suffice to say some good concerted pressure by the Cam pack eventually saw our very own Bazza break off from a lineout drive to crash over for an unconverted try and half time.

Whatever they had with their cuppa at the break or more likely what the coaches said to them in the privacy of their changing room no one will know but it certainly had the desired effect as, from the restart Cam showed their intent with a series of 'heavy' drives which took play back into the Cornish half and it ended with a great break by Brizzle, who seems to improve every week, and we saw the centre feed Birdy for his skipper to cross for a converted try with just 4 mins of the second half played.

However just as before, poor concentration and a complete lack of their usual physicality from Cam saw the visitors come straight back and score a well worked try in the corner but this would prove to be the last time that they bothered the scoreboard as their 50 mins of heroic defence took its toll and Cam began to exert their superiority.
From the restart Cam won a pen in the Cornish half and a great scrum saw Birdy at 8 pickup and go blind with a pop pass to H who found Oyoni who then repeated the favour with young H steaming down outside him and the fullback crossed for his second of the afternoon.
Again Cam were very aggressive from the restart with big drives by Big Sam and Shawa taking play again deep into the Cornish half and when they were penalised Liam put play just 5m from the line and a great lineout take and drive eventually saw Marvin emerge claiming the score.

From the restart Cam found themselves down to 14 for 10 mins following a high tackle but this didn't seem to bother them as from a drop out under their posts, Cornish, despite recovering possession saw Fireman George strip the cornish player of the ball and dance across for another converted try and we had only just entered the final quarter of the game with the score moving to 45-16.

The final 20 mins saw Brizzle almost through and then a poor lineout by The Pasty Boys on their 22 was collected by Murph who, showed some smart moves and considerable strength to cross for the final score of the afternoon and a score of 52-16.

Overall this was a good result for the squad who are beginning to show just a little fatigue as they completed their 6th straight game since the New Year.
The first half was really a continuation of the lack lustre performance of last week but to be fair the squad certainly upped their game in the second 40 and managed to close the game out with some flowing rugby.
The forwards again put in a big shift and definitely had the scrums and lineouts under control and it was good to see the link between Tom and Liam at 9 & 10 working so well for the first time with Liam's magic boot keeping Cam playing in the right areas. The centre partnership also worked well with James being the perfect foil for Brizzle who seems to be growing in confidence every week and the back three, when given half a chance are outstanding.

So despite a far from perfect performance the squad were still able to collect 5 points, which must be the sign of a good team, and now all thoughts will be on the visit to Horsham next week when they will need to collect yet another max to stay in the race for top spot.

And Finally – so the C&Ws met their match at Sandy Lane when their recent good run came to an end as they went down to The Chiefs 24-15 but no doubt Skivs and his team will be already working hard to prepare for their visit to The Tigers.

Pic courtesy of Dinger shows Murph charging for the line carrying one of the defenders - no one was going to stop the hooker!!!