Camberley 28 – 23 Marlborough
The first game of 2024 saw the 1st XV travel down to Camberley, who currently holds the top position in the Regional 1 South Central League. This was not going to be a walk in the park by any means, but it would test how the boys were coming together as a team now that the newer players were more embedded within the team and a couple of players had also returned.
Things were also helped by this being the first away trip this season that has been incident-free from a traffic point of view, allowing the players and coaches to organise and have a decent pre-match warm-up routine.
The weather was dry, if not a little fresh, which was a blessing after all the downpours felt through the festive period. Understandably, the pitch conditions were extremely boggy, and at times made life difficult for both teams.
Marlborough started well with a try after only four minutes from Save Tuimatanisaqa following a maul from an attacking line out, which was kindly converted by a returning Will Grant.
Camberley came straight back into the game with good attacking play and put Marlborough under pressure for considerable periods. It was now that the extra training was starting to show dividends, with the defence holding out well. But eventually, the pressure showed, and on 20 minutes, following a couple of weak tackles from Marlborough, Camberley’s scrumhalf made an excellent break, passing to the loosehead prop to score under the posts, which was then converted, making the scores level.
The remainder of the half saw both sides struggle with the ground conditions, but on 32 minutes, Grant slotted a long-range penalty kick and then did it again two minutes before the end of the first half.
Half-Time: Camberley 7 – Marlborough 13
The second half start for Marlborough was not as strong as it had been in the first; the home side was applying constant pressure and making some unforced errors. Within 7 minutes of the re-start, Camberley scored another converted try.
Marlborough struck straight back with a penalty three minutes later from Will Grant, but sadly injured himself in doing so and had to be helped off the pitch. He was replaced by Veleki Bulicokocoko (Buli) as the scrum half. This was his debut performance for Marlborough, and he performed it well, but the team did miss Grant’s kicking out of hand. Camberley scored a further two converted tries in the 60th and 65th minutes.
The Marlborough boys weren’t finished yet; they were not prepared to roll over and surrender, and in the 73rd minute, Akariva Seruvatu (Aka) turned the ball over in the Marlborough 22. He then went on to beat several of the Camberley players, running 50 metres before offloading to Viliame Waqanidrola (Qila), who in turn shipped the ball straight onto a flying Buli to score under the posts, with Niall Pollinger providing the extras. Sadly, Marlborough could not quite manage a winning score, but at least they came away with a losing bonus point.
Final Score: Camberley 28 – Marlborough 23
Though there was a little disappointment at losing the game, there were a lot of positives. The boys had gelled together, helped by the additional training that had been put on by the coaches over the festive period. Picking up points through our kicks and playing to the conditions. There are still some areas to work on, but they will come, and this was a positive start for 2024. Hopefully, there will be more good things to look forward to for the ever-faithful Marlborough supporters.
Congratulations to Save Tuimatanisaqafor (sponsored by GreenSky Contract Services) for being awarded ‘Man of the Match’ for his awesome performance throughout the game. Well done.
Next week, the boys are back on the Common, where they will be hosting Hammersmith and Fulham, who are currently in eighth place, two places above Marlborough.
The 2nd XV had another local derby game against RWB III on the Common. The game finished Marlborough 46 – RWB III 12. It was a great start to the New Year for the boys, continuing where they left off at the end of last year. Currently, the 2nd XV lies in first place within the Counties 2 Tribute D&W North League. Next week, they are away to Chippenham, who are one place below Marlborough II in the league. This will be a hotly contested top-of-the-table clash and should be a thrilling game.
Marlborough flooding – a memory of the last great flood, in 1947
