Heartbreak for winless Camelot as HAC snatch a last-gasp victory

Camelot, wearing their new Jay-City sponsored kit for the first time, started well and drove into the visitors’ half with some strong forward play.

From a lineout 15 metres out, a well worked driving maul saw Camelot’s Connor Herlihy crash over to open the team’s account.

Full-back Nick Merrett added the conversion to take Camelot into an early seven-point lead after five minutes.

As has happened in previous games, however, Camelot allowed the opposition back into the game almost immediately.

From the restart HAC gathered the ball and carved through the home side’s central defence to even things up at 7-7.

Hemel regained the lead through a penalty kick from Merrett, and with the steadying hand of veteran fly-half Richard Woodard, the home side more than held their own until some poor tackling allowed HAC to score their second converted try.

In the 38th minute, Camelot hit back again as Hadyn Morgan scored his side’s second try, only for HAC to snatch the lead back on the stroke of half-time with their third converted try to make it 21-15 at the break.

The second half started evenly, with both sides making forays into their opponents’ half.

Ten minutes in, the home side retook the lead with Herlihy grabbing his second try which Merrett converted, and the hosts went further ahead with their best try of the game.

From a wayward HAC clearance kick, centre Ryan Doyle gathered the ball on his 10m line and made good ground before linking with winger Nick Stowe who beat his opposite number on the outside and fed Woodard to touch down for Camelot’s bonus point fourth try.

With the conversion kick missed, Camelot were six points ahead with 20 minutes to go.

With three minutes remaining, the visitors grabbed their fourth try but missed the conversion which meant that they were still behind by a point.

With the clock well into injury time, HAC continued to press for the winner and, with the home side’s defence out on their feet, the visitors grabbed the final try to break Camelot hearts.

With no game at the weekend, Camelot will hope that some of their long list of injured players will return to fitness.