A team made up of a core of regulars for the 5ths linked up with a few new players joining the team for the first time to play a friendly against a team that we had never faced before, Cambourne Exiles. The Exiles play in the Greene King league that the 5ths played in until three years ago, playing against teams such as Saffron Walden 3s, Royston 2s and Sawston 2s. Following on from the disappointing defeat against the Chess Valley team in the cup competition last week, the 5ths took to the field hoping to get a victory under their belts in order to prepare for what will be a very tough game against the newly combined OMT 1s and 2s playing as the 2s in Merit Table 5 of the Herts and Middlesex Merit Tables. With just three league games to go this season, the 5ths remain poised for possible league victory, but will need to be on the top of their games in all three fixtures.
As has been proven so many times in the past, the 5ths are notoriously slow starters when they do not get properly organised before the game. On this occasion the combination of a number of new faces, coupled with a lack of management was then combined with the team not warming up properly before the game. The forwards and backs separated off straight away and there was no combined warm up.
The game started tightly with no points scored by either side in the first twenty or so minutes. Scrums had been agreed as contested as Bishops Stortford had lent a front row player to Cambourne so as to make for a fully competitive game. Cambourne’s strong pack was able to hold the 5ths in each scrum. However the 5ths were able to steal numerous scrums against the head as well as winning their own. Steve Drew, playing at hooker for the first time in 2010, was having a strong game and the pack as a whole were setting up strong platforms for the backs to make use of. Unfortunately the 5ths as a whole were then spurning the numerous chances this created. Too many passes were going astray and too many balls were being dropped. Platforms that could have been created through large numbers of forwards being present at the breakdown were not being created due to a lack of urgency from the pack. At the same time the backs were not making strong use of the balls they were being given.
However the pressure from the 5ths did eventually tell and the first try was scored by Ian Piper following good movement of the ball from the left to the right. An overlap was created and a final pass from Wrighty to Pipes led to the try. The involvement of the front row in helping the team to success was clear once again. (Obviously the front row designation of the author of these reviews has no relevance to the previous comment!). An excellent conversion from Luke Webber put the 5ths 7-0 ahead. The game then continued and again and again the 5ths wasted opportunities throughout the team. Forwards losing the ball in contact were as much to blame as backs who either failed to deliver the pass before entering contact, or who shipped the ball out to the next player seemingly without opening their eyes. Before the end of the first half, Luke Webber went over for an excellent second try for the 5ths, and then converted (via a bounce from the left upright) to give the 5ths a lead of 14-0 at half time. The half ended with a period of strong pressure from Cambourne. Resilient defence from the 5ths kept the opposition at bay however and the half ended with Stortford 14-0 ahead.
However the second half proved to be the undoing of the 5ths. Two quick tries from Cambourne at the start of the second half brought the scores to 14-10 to Stortford. It was clear from the sidelines, and should have been clear for those of us on the pitch, that the tide was turning in Cambourne’s direction. The game continued to ebb and flow, but the tide was clearly with the visitors. With around fifteen minutes to go Cambourne substituted the prop that the 5ths had lent them and replaced him with the seventeen year old son of another of their forwards. This led to the scrums going uncontested, as required by RFU regulations for such a young player being in the front row of an adult game. This removed one of the key strengths that the 5ths still had. Scrums had been going Stortford’s way for around 90% of the game; the new uncontested scrums finished this off. This tipped the balance towards Cambourne for the remainder of the game, and they eventually ran in two more tries, with one being converted. The inability of the 5ths to cope with the changed circumstances led to their defeat. Even when the 5ths had the ball out of the back of three uncontested scrums inside of the Cambourne 22 they wasted the opportunities that arose.
A break with around five minutes to go made up of a strong run from new player Dave, playing at full back, passing at around 30 metres out to the flying dwarf, Steve Drew, who then moved the ball on to Eamon Carey, playing on the wing instead of his usual back row position, before receiving the ball back around 15 metres from the line failed to lead to a try. The dwarf ran into a strong defensive line of Cambourne players, and although it did take four players to bring this attack to an end, the ball was lost due to Drew’s inability to turn the ball back for his own time to take. The ball was lost to the Cambourne team who immediately retook the ground. Missed opportunities such as this characterised the game for the 5ths. Good breaks with some attractive play involved were just not converted due to a variety of players making basic errors. Although this a glaring example, we all have to share the blame for the defeat.
You can view the photos from the game by clicking on the Flickr logo:
RFU.com 
Search
