Cambridge RFC 3s v Saints Pre-Season Friendly: 19-17

A mixed St Neots squad of 14 brave souls travelled to Cambridge to face a strong 3rd team outfit. From the off Cambridge where shocked by the physicality and organisation of the St Neots lads who, whilst camped in their own half, were more than holding their own in both set piece and at the breakdown. A contentious penalty gave Cambridge the first score though after a kick to corner and strong runners off the line out. St Neots where not down heartened and continued a courage defence, eventually being overcome by the long reach of Cambridge's number 8 to get the ball over the line after an intense phase of play.

But again St Neots where defiant and took the game to Cambridge stringing together phase after phase of play and in true Saints style were there to spoil the party. Intense pressure forced the home side into making errors, resulting in a penalty under the posts. The resulting move was straight off the training park playing the perfect back ball, leaving Josh Lofty to walk in untouched for a well deserved try.

Cambridge were determined not to be embarrassed in front of a large home crowd and came back strongly playing through the phases to score a well worked try in the corner to draw the half to a close.

Despite only having 14 players St Neots came out of the blocks strong at the start of the second half. With strong runs from Jono Lawton at 8, big hits from the ever-present Alex Ramwell and an incredibly dominant display from pack leader Chris Routley, St Neots not only dominated open play but also the breakdown. Strong pack cohesion saw the Saints winning back to back scrums and disrupting the Cambridge lineout on multiple occasions. The intense defensive pressure eventually told resulting in a handling error from the terrified Cambridge 10. A cheeky fly hack from captain and all round menace James Larman led to the electric Ross Hubbard charging past everyone to touch down under the posts. A try converted with a cool piece of drop kick improvisation by Reece Hughes.

From the restart St Neots where straight back on the throttle causing all kinds of problems for the Cambridge team who looked shocked at the astounding ability of their opposition. Deep in the 22 St Neots attacked with more strong phase play and quality pressure leading to the formidable Ramwell coming within inches of the try line after a scintillating and powerful run. Camped in the Cambridge 22 St Neots won themselves another scrum after some great pressure. The strong scrum allowed Will Smith to set the backs free and a let loose a slick move with Larmen drawing all but one back in before firing a long left hand pass to Dean Terrablanche. The guile and craft of Terrablanche finally paid off beating his man twice just for the fun of it to score brilliantly in the corner to get his well deserved try.

Cambridge tried to rally but St Neots where too strong. With continuous pressure and the final whistle looming St Neots got a penalty just inside the Cambridge half. Unfortunately the resulting play didn't yield another try to snatch a victory for the underdogs but St Neots sent out a clear message of intent to the teams in their league this season. A great performance to be proud of with incredible work out in by all involved and a real show of strength from the lads.

Man of the Match: Declan Seaman - immense carrying all day and a constant thorn in the side.

Saints are due to start their league campaign on with a home game against Daventry on 3rd September