Cobham Under 18
Match Report vs Camberley
December 12th 2010
Result: Cobham 43 pts Camberley 14 pts
The snow and weather had cleared and on a still cool afternoon Cobham U18s put in a scrooge-like defensive performance that allied with a sparkling display in the backs produced a sackful of tries in an entertaining game that was well refereed throughout.
It was noted that Camberley had a large pack, but the greater technique in scrum and line-out from the Cobham front five enabled Cobham to win a good share of possession, and the tackling by all the forwards but definitely by the makeshift back-row and the centres was outstanding. The half backs controlled the game well, with Bliss being a steadying influence where required and Conor Jones lighting the torch in the backs with crisp passing and the eye for a gap.
The early part of the game saw quick line-out ball fly down the Cobham backs and only a good tackle stopped Hughes from scoring, but soon after a neat pop from Peter Saunders led to the first try from the racing Conor Jones on the loop. A couple of errors gave Camberley field position where from a series of drives they scored a converted try. The game then settled into a pattern with Camberley looking to drive through the middle and Cobham defending hard, winning a number of turnovers and spreading the ball wide when possible. Peter Saunders scored 2 tries in quick succession, one a run-in and the other following neat footwork to get inside the last man. Then just before half-time a backs move that was going nowhere was lit up by Gazzard driving through the tackle to score at the posts.
Half-time 22-7
Camberley started the second half brightly and established a position in the Cobham 22 from which there was wave after wave of forward drives. The Cobham defence held form and tackled well for a good 5 minutes or so, before the Camberley fly half took a good line to score. Soon after Cobham were in a similar position and this time Conor Jones took a good line at pace to score at the posts. Two further tries were scored in the final quarter by Alex Aves on the left wing, a real flyer, with both tries well converted from wide out.
A good win against a well organised Camberley side. Much credit (and our thanks) must go to the four U17s lads who came in at short notice. Jonny Russell played a blinder at tight head against a heavy opponent, both Seb Brien and Cain Stennett defended well in the back row, and Aves took his chances with a bit of class. The old stagers of Thurston, Philip, McCallum and Mays held the pack together with Bolton and Ryan Saunders playing out of their skins. As for the backs some of the passing and link play was superb and the tries were taken well, but the key was the defence where the brick wall of Swindell and Gazzard was outstanding all game.
Our thanks to Camberley for providing good opposition and an enjoyable game.
Well done lads. Merry Christmas…
NM
