Season FOUR finishes on a high

An Egg travaganza of rugby on Easter Sunday, great rugby from both teams.

On a cracking Easter Sunday Camelot Under 13's made the trip to Barnet for what turned out be an egg-cellent end of season encounter against strong opposition.

On a day when very few junior rugby matches were taking place, Camelot bounced back from the disappointment of Harrow a couple of weeks previous to put in a more solid display, showing some excellent defence and at times imaginative attacking play. However, from the kick-off, it was Barnet that had all the early pressure and came close to taking the lead with a drive towards the line, only for James N to somehow steal the ball away and clear the danger.

With Camelot now on the attack it was Rocket Norman again in the action, finishing off an excellent move from a ruck that saw the ball spread wide to Rocket on the wing who made no mistake in running the ball home for the lead. That lead was almost doubled when Freddie stole the ball on the half way line and set off on a good run with George in support, slipping the pass out wide before being tackled George was almost home and drive, but some good defensive play prevented the try.

Camelot were now on top and the lead was soon doubled when Caolan broke down the wing, looked as though he might be forced out of play, but managed to stay in to ground the ball, 10-0. It was Caolan on the scoresheet again moments later when he gave the ball a punt along the ground just as it looked as though a defender was going to pick the ball up. Fastest across the ground, Caolan set off in pursuit of the bouncing ball and following a perfect bobble in the air, collected the ball at pace and ran home for an easy score. 15-0.

Barnet continued to attack, but came across an extra resilient defence that was in no mood for conceding, and it was Camelot again who scored the next try. Despite having lost out in the scrum, the boys in blue stole the ball back, Dan kicked for corner where Caolan was to pick up the loose ball, passed it out to George who this time made no mistake in hitting the corner for 20-0.

Quick thinking and fast-passing was creating spaces for the attacks and next up it was Dan who found a hole in the Barnet defence to break through and score Camelot's fifth try of the morning. Credit to Barnet, they continued to battle and apply the pressure and could have had several tries themselves were it not for 4 or 5 last gasp tackles from Thomas at full back, but they eventually, deservedly, got their first try of the match with a good break down the wing that left the defence flapping.

However, it was Thomas that scored the last try of the half, receiving the ball direct from a scrum 15 metres out, he dropped his shoulder and barged his way through the defence to score relatively unchallenged. 30-5 at the interval.

It was the hosts that came out the brighter for the second-half and started a comeback. Firstly the winger just manager to avoid a late Thomas tip tackle to stay on his feet to score, and moments later some excellent ball handling saw Barnet score again and we were back to 30-15.

Two almost identical tried from Freddie saw Camelot restore composure as pressure in the Barnet defensive zone first saw George pop the ball out for Freddie to pounce over the line, and moments later it was Edward causing havoc on the attack before popping out to Freddie to score again. 40-15.

Yet still Barnet would not lie down, a good break saw them score again before Caolan completed his hat-trick with some superb footwork that saw him create space that should never have been there as he weaved through 4 or 5 defenders to nip through and score. Game over? Nope, Barnet were straight back down the other end to stay within touching distance with another score to pull it back to 45-25.

Again Camelot showed great character to battle on and look for the tries that would kill off the game, and they came with two superbly worked moves. A good scrum saw the ball moved out wide for Edward to show great strength and pace to drive home and score, and then a great individual effort from Dan on the wing completed the scoring.

Not alway the best rugby of the season, but a great team effort against strong opposition and with substitutions used to the maximum, unsettling the flow at times, there were certainly glimpses of the skills and team ethic that has delivered so many impressive results this season.

FT: Barnet 25-55 Camelot
Tries: Rocket, Caolan 3, George, Dan 2, Freddie 2, Thomas, Edward