Martin gets Blood and Sand back on track

JAMES Martin scored twice as Cambridge finally got their campaign on track and secured their second National League 1 victory of the season by easing past struggling Canterbury at Merton Lane.

From the off, the visitors were lively and a threat – scoring the game’s first try in the seventh minute when Matthew Hema powered his way through the hosts’ line with a searing run to go over.

Scrum pressure then saw Cambridge awarded a penalty a quarter of the way through the match and Benjamin Penfold made no mistake with the resultant kick to secure the three points.

Martin then got in on the act, scoring his first try 13 minutes before half-time as the away side took a 17point lead into the break, Canterbury remaining scoreless.

In the 60th minute, Josef Green added Cambridge’s third try when some nice attacking build-up saw the winger dot down in the corner.

That preceded Martin doubling up nine minutes later when his brilliant running was too much for the hosts to handle and he dotted down another score that put the Blood & Sand further in control.

Inside the final ten minutes, replacement Alexander Rayment made it 36 unanswered points when he crossed the whitewash and Penfold did the rest with the extras.

There was some small consolation for Canterbury to take when replacement Tristan King added their only try of the match in the penultimate minute and Thomas Best successfully converted to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline but they are still winless this term.