Cam Roast Wild Geese with Red Hot second half display

On this bright but very breezy March Saturday the game, sponsored by former Cam stars Scottie and Stewart Davies, started with a minutes silence while we remembered two of our loyal club members, Geoff Escott and Colin Pullen who both passed recently.
So with just 4 games left it was important for the black and ambers to claim another max and they did this with a scintillating second half performance in which they scored 9 outstanding tries to completely demolish the doughty but in the well beaten Irish 15.

Topping the table brings with it its own challenges as every opponent strives desperately to end the black and ambers unbeaten run. Today Wild Geese were no exception as they spent the first half fighting for everything and putting up an heroic defensive shield which, for 30 mins or so, did slow the black and amber momentum but all of these heroics eventually takes its toll and when Cam eventually calmed things down and returned to their processes they simply had too much for the gallant visitors scoring 2 tries in the final minutes of the first half and another 9 in a brilliant display of open running rugby.

With Cam starting proceedings playing away from the clubhouse and into the breeze the game never really got going in the first quarter and despite the Cam pack completely dominant at scrum time, something that unfortunately the official seemed to miss for most of the game, the visitors took the lead on 7 mins with a simple pen.

However, following much pressure in the Irish red zone clearly defended illegally, the official finally gave the Irish prop a 10 min rest and with Oyoni initially taking a defensive kick and spreading the ball wide he was rewarded when the ball was eventually returned to him and an elegant swallow dive into the corner put Cam onto the scoreboard after 25 mins.

The restart was a nightmare as a poor box kick saw a Cam player in front and a soft pot at goal put the visitors in front again but this was going to be for the last time as, from the restart Cam won a penalty on half way and with Liam nudging the ball to within 10m we saw a good lineout take followed by hooker Murph breaking the defensive line before slipping the ball inside to Big Sam who bullied his way over under the posts and with Liam adding the extras the score moved to 12 -6 after 32mins.
Cam clearly had begun to warm to their task as, from the restart good yardage by Dom and Ed saw them take play back to the middle of the park and although the move was halted by a knock on the pack absolutely destroyed the Irish 8 winning their put in and we saw Jos break away on the blind side before feeding young H who switched on the after burners and touched down in the corner for a 17- 6 score on 35 mins.

The second half saw Cam recover possession following their kick off and immediately spreading the ball wide and although being held up initially the Irish conceded a pen and we saw Tom take a quick tap and put Ed over for a good try which was converted by Liam - so tbp with just 2 mins of the half played.

Again the Irish restart was collected and some excellent, flowing rugby by the Cam backs saw play return to the Irish red zone and despite some optimistic miss passes it was just a matter of time before the defence was shredded with The Fireman claiming his first of the afternoon on 45 mins.

And again from the restart Cam won a pen on half way and with Liam again nudging the ball into the redzone good ball off the top saw the Cam backs again showing their handling skills to put young H over for his second of the afternoon and with Liam again adding the extras the score had moved to 38-6 with less than 10 mins of the second half played.

We then saw a typical Hughsey restart move when the talented back row forward firstly claimed the kick as he soared above the opposition and he then proceeded to bulldoze his way into the opposition half despite the attention of several green shirts and despite losing the ball temporarily we soon saw another Cam scrum in the Irish red zone and quick ball saw The Fireman cross for his second of the game and the score had moved to 45-6 and still only in the third quarter.
With the visitors clearly unable to manage this onslaught we soon saw Ash benefiting from some really good rugby touching down for an unconverted try and unfortunately worse was to come for the visitors when, straight from the restart the exit process was executed superbly with hooker Connor making one of his typically physical breaks and we saw Ash with the ball on halfway and no one in front of him pinning back his ears, he clearly keeps the after burners for special occasions , and cruising over for a converted try moving the score to 57-6 with 58 mins played.

Again, from the restart we saw Hughsey make 20 metres before the ball was recycled quickly and The Fireman claimed his third of the afternoon.

We then saw the restart not making 10m as the Irish visibly tired and from the resultant scrum on halfway the ball was moved blind and H sprinted down the wing only for Hughsey to murder the chance of a try by knocking on the pass which was meant for skipper Birdy but this was only short term relief for the guys in green as from the resultant maul good ball again saw young H cross for his third of the afternoon.
To their credit Irish then had a period of possession in the Cam 22 and managed a try of their own in the corner but from the restart H made 50m with another of his now familiar searing breaks and a pen followed by the inevitable line out in clubhouse corner saw our Ozzie Mole claim the try following a perfectly executed lineout take and drive to end proceedings for the day.

So another 5 points which maintains the gap between Cam and the followers, Welsh and Medway who trail by 9 and 10 points although they both have game in hand and Cam have to visit Medway who are unbeaten at home this season.

Overall a good performance against difficult opposition with most of the players benefiting from the lack of pressure in the second half and it was great to see young Ben Stevens have a 20 mins or so at 10 while it was good to see the Flying Fijian looking back to his best after a prolonged absence due to injury.

So next up are KCS at theirs in 2 weeks (March 26th) where hopefully we will see lots of Cam supporters to help their side to maintain their 15 game unbeaten run which includes claiming 5 points in every game in 2022.

And Finally the C&Ws will be satisfied with 2 points from their trip to Sale today which helps them maintain their push for a play off place and with home games against The Warriors followed by The Pests things are certainly looking up at Castle Grim these days.

Pic by Dinger – why are Ash and Marvin holding hands???