Tough afternoon at promotion chasing Camberley

LONDON 1 SOUTH
Saturday 7th March 2020
Camberley 46 – 17 Horsham
Report by Richard Ordidge

Horsham went down 46-17 in a spirited performance at Camberley, another of the sides in the promotion mix.

Camberley were first out of the blocks with two tries in the first 13 minutes. Dom Sammut was dominating the line-out and Dylan Emmerton scored off a driving maul and then Adam Pickett scored the first of his two tries from close range converted by Tom Dunn.

The Green and Whites then started to get into the game with a long period of possession in the Camberley 22 leading to a try for Giles Barber converted by Tom Johnson. Johnson added a penalty awarded at the breakdown before Sammut stole another line-out to crash over and score with Camberley taking a 17-10 lead into the half time break.

Somewhat against the run of play Josh Sudder made an interception on halfway to finish with a fine handoff which was well converted by Johnson to level the scores at 17-17 after 41 minutes.

Thereafter it was all Camberley with tries from Tio Funaki, Ash Wright, two from Alex Turton and Pickett as the immense defensive performance from Horsham’s young and inexperienced side took its toll and were eventually overpowered.

Horsham Head Coach Nick Stocker said after the game, “A predictably tough afternoon against promotion chasing Camberley. With our deep injury list combined with a lot of unavailability due to the rescheduled game, we anticipated a tough match and asked for a showing of character which we duly got. Our lads felt the score line did not reflect game and to draw the scores level on 45 minutes was testament to the spirit in the young side. However, with our front line lineout operators absent today and diminished power in the scrum as a result, quality possession was always a challenge which ultimately proved the undoing. Despite the challenges, the positives are many, not least the fact that six teenagers were on display alongside a further three being 22 and under which bodes well for the future. Indeed, one of those youngsters played at Loose Head and according to the refs assessor, was the dominant prop. A pity the ref saw things completely differently and was conned by their experienced tight head. Our man of the match was awarded to a young player playing his first full 80 for the first team in the engine room of the scrum against a huge set of forwards. With strong carries and effective clearances at rucks, it’s great to see how young Luke Powell is developing as a player.

Next week we have a week off which will be well received and a chance to recover some knocks ahead of the season run in commencing with a tough assignment against Havant away on the 21st March.”