Quins Cup

Match Report - Neil Dethick

A blustery Sunday at Watchetts greeted the Cambo B team as they gathered to take on the might of Richmond in the latest Quins cup fixture. Having come out second best against Dorking the previous week, the Bees were looking to up their game and finish the cup matches with a win.

Vociferously supported by several of the A squad, the warm up was notable for the massive hit that Ollie T (never one for half measures) put on Tom B which left him wondering what he had done to deserve such a wake-up call. Little did Tom know that this was not going to be the last time that Ollie would feature in his game!

Unfortunately, Richmond could only field a 14 man team and when they elected to receive the kick-off again after the first kick failed to go 10 metres, Cambo sensed blood. Our pack was immediately in the ascendency and this pressure resulted in an early try for Rhys with the game only minutes old. Superbly converted by Ollie M whose brilliant place kicking was to become one of the outstanding features of the match.

Cambo continued to dominate the first half – we were physical at the breakdown and strong in the tackle. With some mighty line breaks from Big Ben and Dazzling Dan, the territorial advantage was huge and it wasn’t long before further tries added to the score. Tom M danced through the defence to dot down and Rhys at scrum half took advantage of some poor defending to snipe a further score.

Richmond’s tactics were to get their big lads to charge upfield hoping to smash through our defence. However, they didn’t reckon on the ferocious tackling of Henry at flanker who, despite a significant size differential, chopped them down with fearless abandon, causing himself some painful knocks in the process.

One strong tackle resulted in a Richmond player leaving the field injured which lead to the introduction of their super-sub (a certain Ollie Tompkins loaned out for the day) who’s first act was to fly into a huge tackle on – you’ve guessed it – Tom B! For the second time that day, poor old Brooksy was left wondering what he had done to upset Ollie and to be targeted in such a way! All taken in good humour though and Brooksy was able to exact some payback when scoring his first try of the season in the second half.

Anyway, the first half finished with Cambo leading by several tries and Richmond unable to trouble the scoreboard.

The second half followed a similar vein with Issac on the wing showing his gas by outpacing the Richmond defence on the outside for his first try and then a smart step inside to score unopposed under the posts for his second try. Give Issac the space and he’s off like a rocket. Ollie M was still banging over the conversions in stunning style.

Richmond did hit back with a couple of tries but with the above mentioned Brooksy try and one more for Ollie M meant that Cambo were out of sight well before the final whistle. The attitude of the whole team was superb throughout the match and this was exemplified by Ed who sprinted back over 60 metres to tackle the Richmond ball carrier not once but twice when they looked certain to score. An absolutely superb demonstration of pace, determination and character that was raucously appreciated by the A squad on the touchline who cheered this effort more loudly than any try.

Final score Cambo 50 – 12 Richmond. Ollie M was voted MOTM by the opposition not just for his points tally but for the way he controlled the game from fly-half. But this was a well-deserved team victory with every player contributing to the result.