Captain "Newts" bags a brace in Bonus Point win at Stafford

Recent visits to Stafford have been problematical and the hosts are always difficult to beat on their own patch; Camps had lost on their last two league visits, the result last year providing Stafford with the springboard to avoid relegation.

The game on Saturday was as competitive as ever but this time Camps prevailed thanks to an outstanding effort from the forward pack.

With the strong wind blowing down the hill into the bottom right hand corner, this was always likely to be “a game of two halves “so the visitors needed a strong start up against the elements.

Camps sensibly kept ball in hand with Mark Lisle and Harry Cunningham prominent before an excellent break from flanker Adam Pinfield took play deep into the Stafford 22.When the home side conceded a penalty 5 metres out in the corner Camps opted for the scrum and were only stopped from a pushover try by a series of penalties. On the fourth occasion the referee lost patience and awarded the penalty try. In trying to keep the ball low against the strong wind Barney Edwards conversion was charged down.
For the majority of the first half Camps were on the back foot with the back row always fighting for the ball at the breakdown and the rest of the forwards carrying the ball whenever possible.

Just before the break, Stafford produced the best move of the half and fly half Sam Bedworth was only prevented from crossing the line by a high tackle from winger Liam Lindsey covering across the field. The referee, quite rightly, awarded another penalty try and sent the winger to the sinbin. The conversion gave the home side a 7-5 lead. The lead was short lived, however as a penalty enabled Camps to get a foothold in the Stafford 22 and the forwards again did the rest.

Strong runs from Harry Cunningham and Jan-Erik Andersen forced the home defence back and skipper Mark Newton (pictured) made the final surge for the try, which, from a far more testing angle, Barney converted for 12-7 interval lead.

Stafford started the second half strongly against the 14 men and another excellent passing move resulted in a try in the corner to level the scores.

Camps were playing with the elements now, however, and a penalty gave them the opportunity to kick the ball down into the bottom corner and another perfectly executed catch and drive resulted in prop Austen Bolger going over for a try to round off his excellent all round performance.

Midway through the half, Stafford prop Ronnie Hindle, a strong ball carrier, suffered what looked to be a series injury and the resultant call for the ambulance resulted in a long delay. (We understand that the player regained consciousness in the ambulance and we wish him the best for a speedy recovery).

Shortly after the restart Stafford lost another prop to injury and the scrums became uncontested.

To add to the confusion the floodlight failed and the game carried on in near darkness.

Camps were able to add the bonus point try through a second try for skipper Newts, brilliantly converted by Barney, to round off a thoroughly professional performance.