Western Counties West

Wadebridge Camels 27, Wellington 27

THE R&Bs travelled to Wadebridge last Saturday in what was always going to be a difficult trip to North Cornwall and this was indeed the case, writes Allyn Chetland.

With no injury worries or unavailabilities, Wellington named an unchanged squad.

The R&B started the brighter and were soon exerting pressure on The Camels line.

However, a knock-on in front of the posts denied them and the scoring chance was lost.

Undeterred, centre George Hodgson sliced through the Camels defence line score a wonderful solo unconverted try from 35 metres out.

The hosts replied almost immediately with a converted try following a loose clearance kick by The R&Bs.

Galvanised by this, they added a slick, well-worked converted try from a lineout to increase their lead to 12-5.

Stung by this score, The R&Bs responded with an unconverted try of their own on the stroke of half-time as Joe Dyke plundered over the line, taking three defenders with him in the process.

The second half didn’t start well for The R&Bs, conceding 12 points in as many minutes.

Eventually, the visitors got their hands on the ball and started playing some rugby.

The Camels were caught offside and winger Rob Hooper stepped up to reduce the score to 24-13.

However, Camels landed a penalty of their own virtually from the re-start.

With time running out fast, The R&Bs needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat and their efforts were doubled and the pace of the game increased.

These efforts were rewarded when replacement Danny Lee powered over with the help of his fellow forwards and Hooper made no mistake with the conversion.

The R&Bs laid siege on The Camels' try line and they elected to take a scrum, from which number eight Cam Venn thundered over for a try underneath the posts.

Hooper again made no mistake with the extra points to even the scores at 27 apiece.

The Camels came back strongly camping on The R&Bs try line well, but they stood firm.

The R&Bs showed outstanding resilience and passion to force their way back into match to come away with three thoroughly deserved league points.

Squad: J. Richards, J. Dyke, R. Marke, R. Walker, C. Kitto, M. Walker, L. Phillips, C. Venn, D. Goldstone, P. Jarman (c), T. Hart, V. Gordon, G. Hodgson, R. Hooper, A. Davey, D. Lee, O. Price, N. Pitman

Next week, The R&Bs make the relatively short trip north to take on Winscombe.

The last two matches between the sides have seen comfortable wins for The R&Bs, however, as the trip to Wadebridge proved, no away games are easy.

This, coupled with Winscombe looking to ensure their rugby is played in WCW next season, means another tricky encounter for The R&Bs.