Brownlie bags a hat-trick in thrilling win for hosts
CAMBRIDGE edged a feisty end-to-end local derby with Bishop’s Stortford at Grantchester Road to move up to second place in the table.
Despite opening the scoring three minutes in through fly-half Matty Arden, the Blood & Sand most definitely did not have the afternoon their own way as the visitors ran them mightily close.
Cambridge director of rugby Richie Williams read the riot act at halftime as his side were rocked by three Stortford scores – one from Jake Rafter and a brace from Dan Powell – plus a penalty from the outstanding Connor Lloyd, who had a brilliant afternoon.
However, the first try in yet another hat-trick from Ben Brownlie saw the Blood & Sand go in 2214 down – and get on the wrong end of a rollicking from the boss.
“I don’t often lose my rag, but I made an exception,” he said. “We have got to applaud the way Stortford applied themselves in that first 40 minutes. They brought the energy, the execution and the pressure we thought they’d bring.
“I was pretty confident we had the game plan and the strategy to put them under pressure, but unfortunately we weren’t allowed to play the game we wanted.
“We were a bit naareas ive tactically, we compounded a few errors, we had two kicks charged down which resulted in tries – our set-piece never really got ascendancy.
“The turning point for me was the period before and after the break where we got a life-line having taken 40 minutes to get our driving maul going.
“And then, straight after the half-time hair dryer, we started the second period as we should have started the first.”
Kieran Duffin got try number three and Seb Brownhill claimed the fourth against his former club, before Lloyd landed another penalty for the visitors to make it 26-25.
The Stortford number nine then darted over for a try to give his side the lead and converted his own score.
Another Brownlie-led driving maul flipped the score to 32-31, Arden again successful off the tee.
However, a yellow card for Joe Green saw
another kickable threepointer for the visitors. Lloyd duly obliged again and he added another with only eight minutes left on the clock.
A lead of 38-33 was never safe for Stortford and the pack finally rescued the Blood & Sand, after Arden’s boot had prodded them up-field.
Brownlie drove over the line again for his hattrick try with a minute left and Saints youngster Arden held his nerve to turn 38-38 into a 40-38 win.
Williams added: “We have sympathy for Stortford. We were on the receiving end a couple of weeks ago in a game like that, so we know how it feels.”
Visiting skipper James Ayrton agreed. “On another day, we would’ve had them,” he said.
However, it was another belting afternoon’s entertainment as the two local rivals laid on a real treat for their raucous supporters.