George Bretag-Norris hails Cambridge’s ‘most complete performance of the year’ in Blackheath win

George Bretag-Norris praised Cambridge’s “most complete performance of the year” as victory over Blackheath turned the screw on the top four in National League One.

The 34-7 win over the London side was their sixth win in a row, and means six points separate second and sixth in the table, with Cambridge in fifth.

It was an impressive display as they did not give Blackheath a look in, with two tries from Billy Walker and one from Jake McCloud giving them a 19-0 lead with the wind in their favour in the first half.

Kwaku Asiedu, Harry Johnston and Will Wand then touched down after the break to secure all five points.

“It was a really great win,” said Cambridge captain and man-of-the-match Bretag-Norris.

“I think it was probably the most complete performance we’ve had all year, and it’s particularly good when we’ve never before beaten Blackheath twice in a season. To do it in that fashion is really pleasing.

“I think that the key is the squad and the difference in the team this year, the motivation. We really get our energy from our defence so playing into the wind, we know we can back our defence and lean on that as a crutch.

“I think the message in the changing room was that we heard them going into theirs saying ‘good, we kept it to three scores’ so we knew they were going to come out [firing].

“The key piece for us in the changing room at half time is that we’re not going out to defend the lead, we’re going out to build on that lead - and you could probably see that was what we were trying to do.”

Even going into the wind, Cambridge looked in control and never any undue pressure.

It is a sign of the times and the way the squad has developed.

“It felt comfortable but I think the nice thing was that in previous years when we might have had a comfortable lead we’ve let teams back into it, and I think we’ve learned from that,” said Bretag-Norris.

“Because we’ve learned from that it’s comfortable but we still manage to play with that urgency which I think is key for us - always the goal for us is getting the balance right.”

Next up for Cambridge is a trip to Caldy, who are two points and two places above them in the table in third place.

The Wirral-based team staged a late comeback at Volac Park in October to hold Cambridge to a 22-22 draw..

“It’s a huge game,” said Bretag-Norris. “With what we want to do, top four, top three, top two, whatever it is, then those are the games we’ve got to look forward to - games against teams that are higher than us.

“We want to solidify our place where we think we deserve to be.”

He added: “We’re in a great position. If you just look at the squad all around, everyone is pushing each other, there is good energy, there is talent but controlled - everyone is pulling in the same direction.”