North Walsham II 15- 19 Cambridge Exiles
By your 'old correspondent'
So I could title this from your “old correspondent “ as the last time I wrote a match report was 3 years ago. I have followed from here in North Norfolk the outstanding progress that the mighty 3rds have made under Darren, Stef’s and Dicks stewardship! The last time we visited North Walsham in the second phase of the league we were well and truly stuffed by an excellent team.
This season the home game showed that Cambridge were a very different proposition. North Walsham 2s have dominated their league and are a very good team, I had watched a great game the previous weekend when they played Renegades which was close until the end, so I was looking forward to today's game.
Pre game Darren admitted to nerves and despite me not being involved with the team anymore I admit to feeling the same as I drove the short distance to Scottow. Despite their 1st team being at home free entry was no issue for Cambridge supporters.
So with Dick in the West Indies listening to reggae, and Bob Coote not travelling you were left with me taking pictures (not to Bob's standard!) and writing the report, thankfully Dave Dexter took the notes this report is based on.
A bright but cold day, with a wind blowing diagonally right to left, North Walsham had that advantage from the kick off.
Walsham started the stronger and from a penalty from a high tackle by 3 Weetabix Stan a lovely dummy by the Walsham 12 put the right winger in at the corner, the conversion was missed 5-0
Play was even and there was a great run by Kiwi Stan but Cambridge’s precision wasn’t quite there leading to some dropped balls. One of those resulted in Cambridge getting a little narrow in defence and a precise cross field kick saw Walsham extend their lead. Conversion missed again 10-0.
Cambridge then started going through their phases forcing a number of penalties in the Walsham 22 and from a lineout on 5m line the catch was taken cleanly (a feature of the game) and the focused drive saw Archie allow Stef to take the ball from him and ground the ball. Max was successful with the conversion 10-7.
The game continued to be an even contest, Walsham thought they had scored again but were called back for a forward pass.
HT 10 – 7
Cambridge made changes at half time. Injuries from last weekend's game vs Ipswich with 2 broken legs saw a very different front row this week. Cadge had started the game but by half time was struggling so Lewis came on for only his 2nd game of the season, his first being the Vanguards game! Coops came on for Young Alex who had shown some outstanding speed on the wing and some great runs.
Walsham started falling foul of the ref, who I thought had an excellent game, being penalised for not releasing in front of the posts, though unusually Max pushed his kick right.
Cambridge continued pressure saw the Walsham 13 penalised for a high tackle on Rijk and yellow carded. At a further penalty Stef went quickly and despite Walsham not being 10m, he forced his way over. Max missed the conversion 10-12.
Play was very even, Cambridge played some great rugby in attack but weren’t able to take advantage of their numerical advantage. A lineout close in for once went awry and Walsham came storming back but great defense kept them out.
Coops and Euan put a great run together that took play from our 22 to their 22 but it ultimately came to nothing.
With both teams at full strength Cambridge pressed in the 22 and a big dummy resulted in a 5m scrum. From the scrum Alex rolled to the right and popped to Stef who went over for his hatrick. Max converted 10-19
Lewis finished his stint and Isa came on as well as Kieran replacing Max. Forceful play by Walsham saw them get close on the right but they were held up though a penalty was awarded. Walsham swung the ball wide to the left and though from our vantage point Coops made a great cover tackle the ref adjudged it high and he went to the bin. From the resulting penalty Walsham made the numbers pay and went over in the left corner. Conversion missed 15-19.
Cambridge managed the last 5 minutes of the game well, despite Walsham running the ball from their goal line and making some progress, good tackling and jackling kept them at bay. Stef ran the clock down from one of those turnovers though missed the penalty. One final turnover saw Brendan boot the ball into touch to spark the celebrations.
FT 15-19
There was some disappointment that the guys felt they’d not played as well as they could. Darren and Stef made it very clear in the postgame huddle that they had done themselves proud! In this correspondent's view the forwards held their own in the set piece, yes under pressure in the scrum but won their ball. Other than one or two lineouts our ball was secure (Archie was active round the pitch but needs to learn not to give the scrum half the ball at the back of a maul going over the line!) and Will pinched a few of theirs. Nice to see Julian making his usual storming runs. Joe, Alex Chabs and Jake had great games all round the pitch.
Stef earned his jug, cajoling everyone as usual. Brendan thought he’d had a poor day but he ran the back line efficiently. Stan and Rijk were solid all game, Rijk having to experience Cromer minor injuries unit post game (they claim to be quick but didn’t stack up to that apparently). Max, Young Alex and Euan functioned well, ran the ball back hard and were very secure.
Walsham have stomped on everyone in their league but Cambridge have beaten them home and away! It was a pleasure to watch the guys having followed this season from afar. Two games to go to top this phase.
Scorers
Tries: Stef 3
Conversions: Max 2
Team
Stan Meadhurst, Archie Davison, David Cadwalladr, Will Ramply, JUlsan Mannion, Alex Chabala, Joe Johnson, Jake Prier, Stef Liebenberg, Brendan Burke, Max Burton, Stan Stanley, Rijk Diepeveen, Alex Howard, Euan Rees
Replacements: Lewis Harvey, Gareth Edwards, Michael Robson, Isa Sloot, Sean Cooper, Kieran Shave, Asbel Rodriguez
