Our 2^nd pool match of 4 started a good hour after the opener, a tense respectful start against old adversaries Sudbury, whose forward game of slow pressure soon took hold. The Cambridge forwards were put under intense pressure and rose to the occasion, fighting for every ball, handling was sharp, quick to ball and ripping at every opportunity. Thankfully the forwards stole a ball, quickly popped by Patrick Marmion to Marcus Jones taking as many Sudbury forwards as he could manage, did his blind pass trick, hoping someone was there, Finlay Owens took, dummied, went inside, with the forwards holding off the Sudbury surge, Jones carried, looped a smart pass to Rory Sheppard, the gas switch already flicked, he stormed down the line to place a very crucial try # 1. Re-grouped, Sudbury dished out a lot more of the same, kicking to gain key pitch space, they had Cambridge pinned down, thwarting our repeated efforts to use the wings. After a long period of pressure, Sudbury had us on our line, Owens kept his head & cleared with a lot of traffic piling in, Ryan Headington caught one of his only chances to scoot down the line, but was escorted into touch. Again Sudbury rumbled forward into the Cambridge half, some excellent quick ball & switching by them had Jones trying to clear off the line, but was heart-stoppingly charged down, Sean Cooper grabbed & cleared, such was the relentless pressure applied by Sudbury. Cambridge came back, conscious of time & their slim lead, a battle Royale for the mid field ensued, scrappy & quick, Cambridge turned over a crucial scrum, gaining valuable pitch space, Rupert Dodson putting in fierce challenges to keep Sudbury in their half, the match ended with a Sudbury last ditch attempt for our line, Euan Dingwall was not about to let them spoil his party & tackled like his life depended on it, the ball was loose, Cooper cleared, we won a real testing battle of forward play, Sudbury simply did not let our backs into the game. Full credit to Sudbury for a fierce contest & to our forwards hose self-belief ensured a vital pool match win.

Scorer:-

Rory Sheppard