Pitchero

Hackney

Hemel Hempstead

Tries

R Dunkley (3)

Conversions

J Hearn (2)

Sat 17 Nov 14:30 - London & SE Division - London 2 North West Full time

Report

Highlights

Selection

League round up

Camelot brake a loosing streak

By Tim Wynne-Jones

Rio Dunkley earns his spurs with a try hat trick

Camelot went to Hackney seeking their first win for a month following losses in high scoring games to league leaders Belsize Park and relegation contenders Grasshoppers.

Hackney proved to be more stubborn than they should have been. This was mainly due to Camelot’s inability to convert possession into points when close to the opposition’s try line. On at least 4 occasions, they squandered scoring chances through being inaccurate or over eager or both.

The side was missing at least 5 leading regulars which this week included influential skipper Nino Massa. However, Camelot Coach, Sam Townsend managed to put out a winning 18 man squad which included Jamie Hoyes in the back-row rather that in his usual position of centre.

The star of the show was Winger Rio Dunkley who opened the scoring after 7 minutes by catching a perfectly weighted cross-field kick from No. 10 Jamie Hearn, to touchdown in the right corner. The difficult conversion was missed but Camelot had the lead.

Hackney had their scoring chance as well, only to be let down by inaccurate place kicking from their 10 who missed a relatively easy Penalty early on. They did take the lead with a converted Try in the 30th minute (7-5).

This wasn’t to last long as Dunkley struck again in the 35th minute which Hearn converted (7-12). A further Dunkley converted try, in the 50th minute, extended Camelot’s lead to 7-19. With Hackney scoring a late try, to narrow the gap in the 77th minute (12-19), the last minutes of the game became quite tense as the Home side pushed very hard to get the equaliser. There was a big cheer, as the final whistle blew, from the faithful Camelot travelling supporters.

On reflection Coach Sam Townsend may be spitting bullets on what should have been a much more comfortable win for a side that in their last 2 games have scored 11 tries. They played well against the league leaders, Belsize Park, 3 weeks ago but only came away with 2 bonus points. Yes they played badly against Grasshoppers (4Ghoppers) but again still managed 2 bonus points.

With 2 weeks off until they play 3rd placed Welwyn at home on 8th December, there is hope that the squad will be bolstered by returning players to give the coach some selection options.

Camelot lie 5th in the League with 22 points having played 9 games. However, their main rivals have only played 8 due to London Nigeria withdrawing at the start of the season.

The next game is at HOME against Welwyn RFC – Kick off 3pm

Final Score 12 - 19

Scorers Tries Rio Dunkley (3)
Conversions Jamie Hearn (2)