Phoenix 45 pts Camberley 2nd XV 13 pts

Within 2 minutes and having kicked off, Phoenix were under pressure on their own line with a good touch kick from Camberley. A simple catch and drive resulted in a try for the Camberley prop. The Phoenix pack were struggling to hold their opponents as they drove and kicked well to set up useful attacking positions. Phoenix took two set piece balls in the first 10 minutes which Camberley turned over as Phoenix dropped the ball under pressure. On 7 minutes, an almost certain try was only just avoided when Watkinson cut down the Camberley prop within inches of the line. But their joy was short lived as Camberley slotted a penalty when Phoenix infringed at the ruck. The outlook was grim for the home side as they failed to gain any possession and failed to make much use of it when they did. It took some time for Phoenix to gather themselves but they reduced the deficit after about 20 minutes when Ian Watkinson drove over from one of the rare Phoenix ventures into Camberley territory. Then it was Phoenix again that opened up the Camberley defence with an individual effort by centre Chris Blake who chipped through and won the race for the touch down. Minutes later and Phoenix and Watkinson were crossing the Camberl;ey line again, having caught the Camberley three-quarters in possession. Phoenix had overturned the Camberley 8 point lead in the space of 10 minutes and now sat on a 9 point lead as Nigel Coltman slotted the conversion. A penalty goal a few minutes later extended the Phoenix lead to 12 points before Camberley recovered their composure and began to pressurise Phoenix on their line. The Phoenix pack held them at bay but a swiftly moved ball was rewarded with a try for the visitors wide out on the right. But Watkinson had the final word of the first half when he followed up a Cris Laidlaw break which was passed to Lal Turner and slipped on to Watkinson for his third try of the match.
The second half got underway with Camberley firmly in the driving seat. The visitors kept the ball close and pressured Phoenix on their own line for long periods. Phoenix were unable to escape their own 22 and a try for Camberley went begging with a knock-on that would in all probability have reduced the Phoenix lead to just 5 points. Although Coltman helped Phoenix out with a penalty goal, this period was critical for Phoenix which they came through well and from a scrummage 5 meters out, Lal Turner dummied his way over to take Phoenix to 30 points and visibly break Camberley hearts. From here there was to be no way back for Camberley and as the game progressed, Phoenix used their superior three-quarter skills to great effect and Chris Laidlaw ran in two further tries to take the match by a somewhat flattering 45 points to 13. Captain Edd Dibb was pleased with the result but pointed to some mistakes that need to be sorted sooner rather than later, We still have a lot to do if we are to make an impact on this league he said, our forward play needs to be raised a gear and we need to reduce the errors when in possession. But all things considered the performance was much improved from the previous week. Phoenix train every Tuesday evening at 7.00 p.m. at their grounds in Institute road Taplow see www.phoenixrfc.com for further information. Next weekend Phoenix entertain Harwell at Institute Road in the Bucks Berks and Oxon Premier League, kick-off 3.00 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Phoenix: T Coomber, J Dixon, E Dibb (Captain), N Wyncombe, A Jones, M Jones, I Watkinson, D Harris, L Turner, K Roche, A McMillan, C Laidlaw, G Turner, M Simpson, N Coltman.

Subs: A Golder, A Herd .

Other Results:
Phoenix “B” XV 15 pts Reading Abbey 3rd XV 21 pts