Basingstoke 43pts, Camberley 15

BASINGSTOKE continued their recent good form with a solid performance to see off local rivals Camberley in a fiery derby match.

'Stoke were never behind in this game although they missed opportunities to better their points difference and to wrap up the match earlier.

Playing into the wind and up the slope in the first half, 'Stoke immediately took a grip on the match, scoring three tries and two conversions in the first 20 minutes.

The first try came after patient build-up play eventually created an overlap for Ian Calder to cross in the corner.

The second try came after 'Stoke had soaked up a fair bit of pressure from Camberley and then broke free. Good link-up play eventually allowed Fraser Jones to score under the posts and Calder converted.

'Stoke's final score in the first half again followed good build-up play as Dave Lambert crossed for the first of his two tries and Calder again converted for a 19-0 lead. The Down Grange side then seemed to think the job was done and took their collective foot off the pedal, thus allowing the visitors back into the game.

Camberley recorded their first points after 27 minutes when they attacked the blindside from a scrum and took advantage of the referee accidentally blocking a 'Stoke defender to score in the corner.

Stoke's lead was then reduced still further as Camberley recorded a penalty and converted a try under the posts on the stroke of half-time, leaving just four points between the teams.

The second half was disturbed somewhat by the Camberley hooker suffering a serious injury after only four minutes. When play resumed, it was scrappy and disjointed until Lambert scored his second try after 53 minutes. Calder again converted.

'Stoke applied further pressure and crossed again to effectively wrap up the game after 56 minutes. A speculative kick from Calder was well gathered by Fraser Jones, who fed Chris Norton. He scored a converted try under the posts.

Basingstoke missed a number of opportunities in the following minutes, but nonetheless increased their advantage with tries from Calder and Neal Taylor, resulting in a final score of 43-15.

This was an encouraging performance from Basingstoke from which many positives must be taken, not least the depth in the squad that was shown as Yann Cullum picked up the man-of-the-match award. Fraser Jones, Marcus Reeve and Jason Rees also impressed in their first starts for a few weeks, and Rob Northcote was solid in his debut.

After the game, Calder said: "It was a good opening 20 minutes to put the game almost beyond doubt, but we must learn not to take our foot off the pedal.

"It was not our best performance but we got the two points on offer. There were good performances from Yann Cullum and Matt Evans and we showed good depth with seven replacements coming in from the Redruth game and all playing well."

Basingstoke: C Norton; D Lambert, J Rees, N Taylor, F Jones (rep R Joseph); I Calder (rep R Northcote), Y Cullum; S Collins, M Evans, S Buttle (rep R Mckinnie), S Draw-bridge, K Chapman, M Reeve, R Baker(capt.), S St Bernard (rep A Wilson).