Home disappointment for Cambridge against Esher
Bad day at the National League One office
Cambridge had an afternoon to forget as they were beaten 36-22 by Esher in National League One.
In a strangely passive affair, it had the feel of a match where the teams were just content to take it in alternate turns to try to score.
The opening try came in the 15th minute as a pick up from a scrum by Esher was moved through a number of pairs of hands to the wing for Tom James to touch down.
Little more than a minute later, Matt Hema got the ball on the wing for Cambridge and powered down the line to touch down to make it 5-5.
In the 26th minute, a dominant scrum on the line was collapsed and referee Anthony Woodthorpe awarded a penalty try to Esher, with Sam Stanley kicking the conversion.
Cambridge responded within four minutes as work along the line saw Dan Lewis spot the space to burst through to touch down, with Lewis converting his own score.
It was then back over to Esher, and after a missed tackle from Cambridge, Joseph Brown touched down and Stanley’s conversion made it 19-12 to the visitors.
But it was all square by half time as Lewis intercepted a pass from the back of a scrum on halfway and sprinted clear to score beneath the posts, with his extras making it 19-19.
At the start of the second half, Stanley kicked Esher 22-19 ahead, but five minutes later, Lewis nudged over three points to make it 22-22.
However, the damage was done to Cambridge in the closing stages.
In the 78th minute, a good move across the pitch and a smart and calm offload put in Calum Waters to touch down beneath the posts for Esher, with Stanley converting.
And in the fifth minute of over time, a clever dummy from James allowed him to race in for Esher’s fifth try and Stanley’s conversion completed their 36-22 win.
Cambridge: Furbank; Hema, Portsmouth, J Ayrton, M Ayrton; Lewis, Trotter; Seal, Griffiths, Langley, Schoeman, Bretag-Norris, Rawlings, Laxton, Read.
Replacements: Reeves (Seal, 47), Meek (Read, 47), Liebenberg (Trotter, 53), Petrides (Portsmouth, 60), Ruddock (Rawlings, 66).
Esher: Davies; Beckett, Brown, Stanley, James; Roberts, Garner; Furey, Sweeney, Zeiss, Edwards, Marriott, Gentles, Cossington, Seccombe.
Replacements: Sutherland (Edwards, 6), Leigh (Beckett, 47), Waters (Leigh, 56), White (Garner, 65), Leigh (Zeiss, 78).
Sin bin: Furey (foul play, 45).
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.
Scorers: 15min James try (0-5), 17 Hema try (5-5), 26 penalty try – Stanley con (5-12), 30 Lewis try – Lewis con (12-12), 37 Brown try – Stanley con (12-19), 40+3 Lewis try – Lewis con (19-19), 44 Stanley pen (19-22), 49 Lewis pen (22-22), 78 Waters try – Stanley con (22-29), 80+5 James try – Stanley con (22-36).
