Camberley 'A' 5 v 46 Effingham 'A'
Camberley 5 – 46 Eagles
Juniors U13 • League • Sun 21st Mar 10, 12:00PM
U13 Surrey League Division 2Camberley 'A' 5 v 46 Effingham 'A' Welcome Backs! After weeks of witnessing the forwards dominating the opposition and taking all the plaudits (rightly so), today it was the turn of the backs to step forward themselves and produce some scintillating and evasive Rugby. Having said that, the forwards still remain the powerhouse in this league, and in the early exchanges they set their stall out to try and stifle the Camberley pack. It is to Camberley's credit that Effingham didn't have all their own way during the course of the match, which ultimately led to the backs (pleasingly) having more of an influence. The early exchanges were evenly matched, but taking advantage of some loose tackling and a determined driving maul, Effingham got off to a dream start when Bathurst broke off to the right to secure an early try to calm the nerves. A difficult conversion chance was sent successfully through the posts with aplomb by Mead.
0 - 7 What a start! Straight from the re-start Effingham further asserted their control, and advanced through the middle with another well set driving maul, with Matthews, Warr and Bliss taking on the charge. Despite Camberley's reisistance, the ball found its way to Chandler 10 metres out. With great determination and excellent technique he took the drive on towards the right corner and just managed to ground the ball for the second try of the afternoon. The conversion attempt was right on the touch line and Mead was extremely unlucky to strike the bar.
0 - 12 (the referee remarked: "your kicker is the best I've seen at this level") There followed a period of play where Camberley put pressure on the Effingham defence, and they were unfortunate to have a try disallowed for a 'knock on' over the try line. It was a scare, but from the resulting scrum Effingham cleared their lines with a long clearance from the excellent Loftus, and from this point onwards the remainder of the half was one way traffic. Shortly afterwards OC Cody produced a fine individual try running from outside the 22, sidestepping with plenty of changes of direction to find himself coming across from the right to score under the posts. Mead duly converted.
0 - 19. Effingham were now well in control and continued to exert further pressure and were helped by a number of missed tackles, with IC Hammerson in particular taking advantage of some early straight running that had reduced the effectiveness of his opposite number. For a change Effingham exerted pressure on the left flank, and from a well won scrum Mead, ably supported by Bone, went round the blindside to find Hadley in support, who drove purposefully for the line to secure the fourth try and much needed bonus point.
0 - 24. Finally in the last passage of play of the first half Effingham worked an excellent move across their backs, which culminated in Cody making yet another purposeful break to find Loftus in support who, with a sharp change through the gears, and a 'side step from heaven', broke clear to bring the half to a close with a superb effort.
0 - 29 to Effingham. The second half was a much closer affair, and Camberley certainly stepped up their intensity in the rucks and mauls. There seemed to be lengthy periods during the half when very little happened and it was all very frustrating for the players. An important lesson to take from this game was the need for discipline, as no matter how frustrating or unjust you might find a decision to be, you have to accept it, the alternative being to concede penalties which could ultimately cost you. However, Effingham did manage to penetrate further into the Camberley defence, and following the 'holding up' of an attempted score, Effingham won the resultant scrum where Bathurst was able to pick up and burst through to the left corner for his second of the afternoon.
0 - 34 This time however, Camberley responded with an attack that was initially thwarted by the Effingham defence, following which there was a period of play, pretty much under the Effingham posts, that seemed to stagnate. The referee had difficulties in setting the scrums and eventually an infringement brought about a penalty for Camberley 5 metres out. Utilising their powerful forwards Camberley pressurised the Effingham defence and managed to secure their first points of the match, albeit the conversion attempt was missed.
5 - 34 Camberley deserved their try for their endeavours, and buoyed with some belief, started to probe the wings for any chinks in the Effingham defence. Effingham however were not going to be breached again, and in one memorable moment RW Parsons tackled their LW (who was twice his size!) into touch. This attitude went right through the side and following a punt from Loftus, both Meek and Lonsdale harried their full back into an error that enabled the charging Hammerson to pick up the loose ball to dive over for another try out-wide.
5 - 39 Finally, and in what epitomised the 'phoenix like performance' of the backs we were treated to a wonderful try; full of running rugby and complemented with superb supportive play. Commencing with a powerful Matthews drive, Gibbons took on the challenge making a further 20 yards before the supporting players of Godwin and Brown drove over to allow the free running Loftus to take on the next phase. Unselfishly he found Cody on his shoulder who in turn found the fast running Gruen who made further ground before passing out to the ever alert Loftus who weaved his way through two tackles to score almost under the posts. It was a truly magnificent effort, and Loftus picked himself up to slot home the conversion.
5 - 46. With that, the referee blew for full time and Effingham had secured their objective of four points plus a bonus point. Even more pleasing though, it was; as the song goes...."Good to be back(s)" !!
Statistics Man of the Match Intelligent kicking, superb support play, and always a danger with ball in hand -
Daniel Loftus Sequence
First half: 5-0 Bathust try; 7-0 Mead conv; 12-0 Chandler try; 17-0 Cody try; 19-0 Mead conv; 24-0 Hadley try; 29-0 Loftus try;
Second half: 34-0 Bathurst try; 34-5 Camberley try; 39-5 Hammesron try; 44-5 Loftus try; 46-5 Loftus conv; nb: The official score for the league table will be recorded as 45 - 5 (ie a 40 point victory margin is the maximum allowed) Squad Max Chandler, Louis Hammerson, George Matthews, George Gibbons, Dominic Brown, Sam Godwin, James Hadley, Stevie Warr, Luke Bliss, Chris Bone, Bill Bathurst, Will Mead, Daniel Loftus, Chris Cody, Marcus Gruen, Harry Lonsdale, Sam Parsons, George Meek, T H Lonsdale21st March 2010
Report by Statts
