It seemed longer than 8 months since the sides last met, away, on a cold April Morning, the difference this time was the incessant rain, Collie breaking his collar bone & Webby turning his knee, before k/o, even having a concussed Marcus Jones shouting “encouragement” from touch, didn’t lighten the gloom.

Just like before, battle commenced in the mid field with Patrick Marmion, ploughing into his opposite number, repeatedly, supported well by an equally keen Euan Dingwall preventing Shelford from moving the ball forward. The stale mate ensued for nearly 10 minutes with the forward packs getting the measure of one another, eventually Shelford managed to push Cambridge back to their 22 where, having gained valuable territory, capitalised by dominating  loose ball, charged down Sean Cooper’s clearance, placed & converted their 1^st try.  At re-start, a high ball was secured by Shelford, who, sensing a gap down the blind, used it to place & convert their 2^nd try. A brief rest-bite through injury, allowed Cambridge to gather themselves, with a more aggressive re-start, Noah Rosen squirted a high ball to Marmion, under pressure, off loaded to Toby Hackett who saw the gap in the back row, dummied with a delightful turn, replying to reduce the deficit with a great try that Ryan Headington just couldn’t quite convert. Shelford re-start fell straight to Headington who belted a return that Louis Rawlings chased past their 22, pressurising & getting his man, undaunted, Shelford seized the chance, splitting Cambridge right through the centre to finish the 1^st half 5 to 21, ahead.

Round 2 carried on where they left off, with Cambridge battling the mid field to stop Shelford breaking through, which they did, with another searing run to place their 4^th try. With the game slipping away, characteristically, Cambridge did not cave, William Parker battled, picked up a loose ball & went, knees up before the 5^th tackle bought him down, no support, Shelford countered quickly, pushing Cambridge back to their line, where a loose goal line ball was smothered forcing another 5 mtr scrum, Shelford had got the measure of our forward play & effectively closed out our backs, giving us none of our customary width. Although we were not allowed to get into our normal pattern of play, Marmion & Headington deserved immense credit for their battling spirit in the centre, never giving up, but a determined Shelford forced another Cambridge penalty from silly errors, which they quickly took to conclude what was a powerful performance from a well organised opposition. An all round sports-manly match from both sides left Cambridge with much to ponder for when we return to Shelford, next year, hopefully, with a fully fit squad the same fire in their belly’s where we shall see what we have learnt, should be interesting.

Try Scorers:-

Toby Hackett

Conversions:-

Ryan Headington 0 from 1 attempt