Camberley 10 pts       Cobham 27 pts

SURREY CHAMPIONS FOR

5TH YEAR IN A ROW

P8          W8        PF 257      PA 42

This terrific group of players have produced a third unbeaten season and become Surrey champions for the 5th year in a row. Tremendous spirit, good rugby skills and tough competition for places in the squad have combined to produce another fantastic season.

But the match against Camberley was very tough. In the first half Cobham had to defend well before producing more dynamic rugby in the second half to win by three goals and two penalty goals to a goal and a penalty. 

From the start the Camberley forwards had the better of the exchanges and were good at keeping the ball tight. Allied to a strong boot from the fly half, Cobham had to defend for long periods and could not break out. The defence around the fringes was generally sound but after we were caught holding on in the tackle Camberley kicked the first penalty of the game to take the lead. Soon after a kick and chase to the corner just saw Flynn win the decision for the grounding, and Cobham could clear. This was a close call but the referee was well positioned and it has to be said that, though young, he had a very good game, being consistent and clear throughout.

Gradually a foothold was made with Cragg bursting through the middle but the pass went astray. Then Markham and Stout combined in the middle to create a hole with Hickman taking the pass and steaming in from 40 metres.

Half-time 3-7

In the second half Cobham settled down, won more ball and were able to move the ball very well at times. Early on breaks from Gazzard and Jones put Camberley under pressure, and from a quick tap penalty near the line only a clash of heads prevented McCallum touching down. However the pressure led to a penalty from Markham and soon after some more continuity and driving play enabled Markham to burst through for a try at the posts.

Game over? No way, and Camberley worked extremely hard to get back into the game. Again a good kick to the corner led to the position where the Camberley forwards went through a series of pick and go routines 5 metres from the Cobham line. Although the defence was good and held out for a long time the try was bound to come and thoroughly deserved it was too.

However the final ten minutes belonged to Cobham. The pace began to tell and Cobham were able to get width on the game and create some good moves. Concerted pressure led to another Markham penalty before, to the joy of Bob J-D, the final try of the season was a result of passing down the line to Flynn for a simple score in the corner. Markham made the touchline conversion for 5 kicks out of 5 on the day.

Not a vintage performance but having not played together for a while a slow start was probably inevitable. Early on we tried to force the pass rather than take contact.

The game highlights included Stout and Markham effective in creating space, a sound game from AJD, a strong performance by Thurstan and Mays in the front row, good support from Koep and McCallum and good running skills from Alston, Jones and Williams.

But well done to the whole squad, including those players who could not make the final game but have helped the side to victories this season. Now let’s see what we can do in South Africa……

Our thanks to Camberley for a good game.