Shelford 55 Cambridge 0 

A Shelford squad minus eight or so players from their full strength squad still managed to score an emphatic win over their local rivals Cambridge. Shelford took the elements in the first period and played the territory game well to pin the opposition back close to their own try line. With Shelford having the territory and possession in their favour for the majority of the first quarter, it was only one solitary score by Dan Burling that separated the teams at that stage as a ‘stop-start’ game failed to ignite. Shelford squandered a number of good opportunities during this period due to a lack of depth and good defending by Cambridge, but they continued to play with flair which ultimately paid off handsomely. Firstly Lewis Green showed a clean pair of heels to his opponent on the wing, converted by Lewis Cracknell, 12-0. A fine passage of inter-play by forwards and backs alike saw Nick Webb cross for a superb team try, converted by Cracknell, 19-0. Nick Webb again joined the line from full back to benefit from some fluid inter-play between Cracknell and Alex Flynn (having a fine game) at inside centre, converted well from the touchline by Cracknell, 26-0.

Shelford were looking solid at the set piece with under 15 James Impey having a great game at loose head prop, but an injury to our one remaining under 16 prop Michael Schumann-Pratt meant we had to go to uncontested scrums. Another piece of wing play at pace from Lewis Green saw him score the final points of the half for Shelford to lead at the interval 31-0, but with the elements to face. 

Shelford continued to dominate in the second period where Sams Perry & Porter were outstanding in snaffling anything remotely loose at the breakdown. Shelford didn’t let the stranglehold on their opposition go and pressed whenever Cambridge had possession, and managed to keep the ball alive with great support on their own possession. Lewis Green running from depth completed his hat-trick, converted by Joe Sherrington-Scales, 38-0. Quick ball away from the breakdown resulted in tries as the ball went wide for both 2^nd half wingers Harri Beasley and Rian Merry to score, 48-0. The final score came from a typical bullocking run from James Clare, converted by Joe Sherrington-Scales, 55-0.

This resulted in the game being called early with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. A fine ‘squad’ performance. 

Squad: Sam Porter (Captain), Sam Perry (Vice Captain), James Impey, Cormac Starling, Alasdair Kerslake, Dan Smith, Michael Schumann-Pratt, Ben Foster, Jack McDaid, Ben Pirzad, Iowan Thomas-Mathieson, Michael Russum, Nathan Taylor, Louis Rawlings, James Clare, George Teeboon, Alex Long, Louis Boulter, Lewis Cracknell, Joe Sherrington-Scales, Alex Flynn, Ben Anderson, Lewis Green, Dan Burling, Nick Webb, Rian Merry, Harri Beasley.