Camberley pay ultimate Price for a slow start
SPIRITED SECOND-HALF SHOW CAME TOO LATE TO COMPLETE COMEBACK
JOE PRICE admits Camberley’s slow start ultimately cost them in their 34-26 defeat to KCS Old Boys on Saturday.
In a game in hand that had a lot at stake, Camberley had given themselves a mountain to climb by halftime after five first-half tries from KCS gave them a healthy 31-7 lead going into the break.
A spirited second-half performance reduced the deficit to 34-26, but Camberley only walked away with a bonus point, as a big opportunity was missed to close the fivepoint gap on second place.
The match had got off to a bright start from the hosts, but once KCS grew into their stride, they failed to adapt and were ultimately run out of the game.
Inside centre Price said: “Obviously it was a very slow first-half from us. KCS came to play and played a bit of expansive rugby, had a few chip kicks that came off and so we were under the cosh from the off really.
“We managed to turn it around in the second-half but it just wasn’t enough to get the result in the end.
“It was a massive opportunity for us to close the gap on the top two, but there’s still three games to play, so there’s a lot to play for.”
The previous meeting between the two sides had ended in a 24-17 victory for Camberley and after four wins from their last five, it was a surprise defeat for the home side.
However, Price admits that rearranged fixtures can always prove difficult when there are missing players and bad weather has affected training routines in the week leading up to the game.
He said: “This end of the season, with a rearranged fixture, some of the boys had booked the time off to go away so we were missing four or five key players. There are a couple of boys carrying some knocks as well but it’s no excuse. Whoever we put out should still put on a performance but it happens, especially with rearranged games. We haven’t trained as much as we would’ve liked to because of the weather and the facilities have been flooded, but everyone just needs to get to training now and we need to give it a big push for the last three games now.
“Even at this stage, we’re still getting through our processes and learning to work with each other, so we’re just staying positive.”