Black and Ambers lose after first-half collapse

DIRECTOR of rugby Gareth Rise is looking to take the positives from Camberley’s disappointing 34-26 defeat to KCS Old Boys.

In Saturday’s battle of third versus 10th in the London One South, Rise’s side just could not deliver the performance and result that was expected of them in order to aid their promotion push going into the remaining weeks of the season.

Despite making a positive start early on and taking the lead, Camberley eventually went in 31-7 down at half-time and consequently gave themselves too much to do in the second half.

Rise said: “The first-half performance was way below our standard, I thought we were second best at the breakdown and in open play.

“I thought there were some positives in our set pieces which we chatted about at half-time and ultimately in the second half, instead of really focusing on the result, we focused on the task of nailing our processes.

“I think we built behind our scrum and set piece.

“We got better at the breakdown and to win the second half 26-3 means that we’re on a good positive path moving towards the next game, but ultimately frustrated with our first-half performance which probably lost us the game.

“I’ve said to the boys that we have to judge ourselves on the result, but you can’t give a team a 31 to seven lead at half time. We have to take positives and keep building and improving.”

The game happened to be a rearranged fixture from earlier in the season, so the game in hand gave Camberley the opportunity to gain some ground on those above them and Rise regrets not making the most of the opportunity.

He said: “There was an opportunity for us to close the gap on the leaders. Ultimately, any time you lose rugby, you’re frustrated.

“We’re a competitive group of men, we work hard at what we do and it’s just frustrating to not come away with a result but there’s a small positive to get a bonus point out of the game.

“We’ve had a tough season and a high turnover of players through injuries. I think we’ve probably been more settled in the forwards, but at the back we’ve had a lot of turnovers, which is frustrating, but I felt the team that went out today was more than capable of winning that game, so there can’t be an excuse.

“Obviously we want to be in contention for the league this season and we’ll keep doing everything we can. There’s still a lot to play for and results will have to go in our favour. Of course we want to be promoted but we’ll just have to focus on each week as we can.”

CAMBERLEY’S promotion bid took a hit as they lost 34-26 at home to KCS Old Boys.

The hosts came away with just a try bonus point when they realistically needed a five-point haul to get back into contention.

The game got off to a promising start for the Black and Ambers when, with just two minutes on the clock, a smart interception by Matt Dalrymple saw the young fly-half put Ash Wright away to down under the posts for a converted try.

The restart was well taken by Alex Hughes and a penalty, awarded for the No. 8 being taken out in the air, saw Camberley move into the visitors half. Despite a good catch by Dom Sammut, the visitors soon turned over the possession and a neat cross-field kick was well taken by their winger who dotted down in the corner after six minutes.

Again Camberley moved into the visitors’ half when Dylan Emerton collected an overthrown lineout and made good ground, but again, and not for the last time, possession was turned over and a chip ahead saw the ball bounce favourably and KCS dotted down under the posts for a converted try.

The restart saw Tom Allen run the ball back, but Camberley seemed unable to string any possession together. The visitors benefited from a lucky charge down as play moved back into the Camberley red zone, and the visitors soon extended their lead with another try after 20 minutes. Camberley did have a period when they managed to maintain possession, but then fell further behind when KCS followed a kick ahead and reacted quicker than the Black and Ambers defence, and with a neat flick pass they scored their bonus point try. On the stroke of half-time they added another converted try to lead 31-7 at the break.

Some great pressure from the restart eventually saw the Black and Ambers drive forward from a lineout and when the ball was swung wide good hands saw Alex Turton cross in the corner.

Camberley clearly took heart from this score and mounted some real pressure, with Greg Franzel and Josh Watson making big carries into the KCS red zone, but the visitors were allowed to turn over possession and when they eventually cleared their lines Camberley conceded a penalty which was converted.

Late in the game, Camberley did manage to up the intensity and replacement prop Josh Thundercliffe crossed under the posts for a try converted by Dalrymple.

With the visitors infringing so regularly that the official was forced to take some action, it was much too late and in time added on another chip by Dalrymple was collected by Jos Lewanituva, who crossed for Camberley’s fourth try which was converted by Dalrymple to claim the try bonus point.