Sat 29 Feb 2020, 15:00
Sometimes you do not just play the opposition you play the conditions. In this case Storm Jorge. Eltham had every possible weather, sun and wind and rain and hail. All of which meant the pitch was heavy and greasy which made handling difficult.
Cambridge took the lead with a penalty after three minutes. And for most of the rest of the half play kept play in the hosts half. On the half-hour mark, Club had a line out roughly on the halfway. They won quick ball and their number eight ran a great line cutting our defence in two and making it deep into the 22, they recycled and a phase of two later scored a try.
That was it for the first half and the hosts went in 5-3 up. Over half time the weather deteriorated, with the hail coming it.
For the second half we had the wind against us - though it was mainly across the pitch. We tried to kick out of defence, Club returned the kick. The ball was caught by a gust and the unfortunate Joe Tarrant slipped and failed to catch the ball Blackheath pounced on the loose ball and scored a second try.
Even though we were playing into the conditions we continued to take the game to Club. However, although we had the vast majority of possession and territory - we could not break through. We found many ways not to score. Either we spilt the ball, or they stripped the ball on the ground or we took the wrong option.
So the game ended with a score of 12-3.
It might sound like another poor performance, but it was chalk and cheese from the performance in Plymouth. For most of the game we were the better side. Our scrum held firm and even had the advantage. Our line out worked better than Blackheath's - though the gusting wind made it hard for both sides to throw accurately. Blackheath's two scores one came from a moment of individual genius and one from bad luck. If there is a criticism we seem to lack a cutting edge - but the conditions made it hard to inject pace.
The 3rd XV won 19-26 at Hadleigh.
Final Score
Blackheath 12 - 3 Cambridge
Scorer
Penalty: Penfold
