Camden succumb to Kiama

1^st: Camden 24 Kiama 35

2^nd: Camden 17 Kiama 19

3^rd: Camden 33 Kiama 14

Camden Rams seem to be in a state of constant competitiveness without reward, in the top grade, again pushing a strong Kiama unit for patches of the 80 minutes but still falling short.

Camden appeared to give up possession in crucial stages and allowed Kiama to capitalise on field possession. Kiama must have sensed they would have to work for the four competitions on offer and took early penalty goal opportunities. Camden fell behind soon after with two Kiama tries. Camden kicked possession away in a bid to manufacture five-pointers against a well-drilled Kiama defence. Camden bounced back with a try to flying centre Tyler Aitken but Kiama still appeared in control taking the score out to 33-10 with two more tries. Late in the game Camden stepped up a gear and started to string some phases together and put some pressure on the Kiama defence. With Camden camped in the red zone and the defence again appearing to hold out the raid, half Matt Dench threw a dummy and went himself to score to the right of the uprights. Minutes later Tyler Aitken found some space up threw the middle with some fancy footwork, dropped the ball onto his boot and ran between the fullback and approaching winger to collect the bouncing ball and score a fine solo try. Camden was on a resurgence, but the time was not their side and the game finished at 35-24. Aitken, centre Lee Russel and lock Mark Morris were best on park. 

Camden’s reserves suffered a shock loss after going out to a 17-7 lead and holding onto the lead until the final 5 minutes when a sideline conversion sailed over to put Kiama 19-17 in front. Early in the game Camden strung together a solid lead with tries to hooker David Kay-Spratley, centre Ethan Whittington and the try of the match to fullback Dane Kelly. However defensive lapses in the twice in the final minutes proved costly when Kiama snatched a 2 point lead and held onto it for the remainder of the match. Camden were well served by Kelly, Whittington and number 8 Adam Pierce.

 Camden’s Third Grade continue to be the shining light at Camden Rugby and heavily cemented their place as 2^nd on the Ladder after half of the season. After easily absorbing some early pressure from 25 plus phases of unimaginative Kiama football, Camden got their hands on the pill and showed they were always going to dominate the tackle contest and with enough time and patience would run over Kiama. Kiama did score tow early tries but could not match Camden’s pace and agility with tries being scored by fullback Mark Strong (2), and one each to wingers Jarryd Kelly and Mark Jordan. The highlight of these being the grubber through by centre Matt Tagg and the 40m chase from strong to touch down in the furthest extremity of the in-goal area. Riley Cashman sealed the game up with a superb inside line, to crash down under the sticks and take the final score to 33-14.  Young flyhalf Shane Martin, Riley Cashman and prop Mark Singh were all impressive.