U14s full of purpose, flair and determination to beat Camberley B

The start of the u14 Surrey Cup Competition so early in the New Year, with just a few days after returning to school, was always going to be a big test for our young players. Add to the fact that they had 3 weeks of no training over the Christmas break and probably ate all around them meant that victory was by no means a certainty against a historically very good Camberley Side.
However many of last season’s squad were still smarting having lost the cup final in dramatic fashion last April and they used that disappointment to make a strong start.
Bolstered by a few new players, and with renewed purpose, the squad set out to put down a marker to the other teams in the competition.

The game was keenly contested and Camberley spent the first minutes in Streatham’s 22 but resolute defending stopped them from scoring. As the ball was worked up the field, the boys led by Joseph Gallon and Diran Oresanya (Scrum-half and fly half respectively) started to string together a good sequence of passes until Jamil Ako-Mensah off loaded to Jaden Wallace-Anderson who ran in for the first of his four tries.
From the restart, Alix Michael gathered the ball and ran 60m evading and palming off players for a fine solo try.
Camberley spent the next 8 minutes trying to get back into the game but Streatham’s defence was solid. Great defensive work from Abhinav Menon, Lorenzo Zilli, James Ward, Jayden Whyte, Andi Aheto, and Nigel Seruvange meant that there was no way through.
Sebastian Douglas, Joseph Craig and Luis Sanchez came on as substitutes half way through the first half and they seamlessly slotted in and once Harvey Akeme broke through to score, with Jude McDonnell converting, it seemed that Camberley’s resolve was broken. 5 more tries in 7 minutes put the match beyond Camberley’s reach and the score 0-44 at half time.
Whilst there were a number of good tries scored, a personal favourite came from an audacious off load from EJ Luteke to Jaden when he had 4 players hanging off of him trying to bring him down. Having support runners left and right allowed him to offload in the knowledge that one of his team mates would be there to receive and complete. Special mention goes to Sebastian Douglas one of our newest members who scored his first competitive try.
In the second half, the squad was re-organised to give a number players different playing positions and experiences. The players adapted well and continued where they left off. William Robinson who played as lock, swapped positions with EJ Luteke and moved to No 8.
He displayed his strong running ability to round off a wonderful team try. Not content with one, he went on to score a second try.
At this level, once the score difference is greater than 50 points, the losing side can throw in the towel. With the score at 54-0 and after a brief consultation, Camberley called it a day.

Streatham-Croydon U14s were too strong, too fast and too determined for Camberley. Roll on the next game on 10th February against Battersea Ironside, which will be a different proposition.