Andover Rugby Club boss Andy Waite believes January will be a “massive” month for his side after they ended the year with a 60-24 defeat at home to Camberley

The All Blacks director of rugby watched his side beaten for the ninth time on Saturday, a result which leaves them just four points above relegation threatened Effingham and Leatherhead.

However after the match Waite remained positive about his side’s season.

He said: “The score flattered Camberley a little as we really went for the four tries in the second half and conceded more as a result but we can’t deny we were well beaten.

“I was really impressed with the leadership of skipper Alex Hibdige today and he was well supported by Tom Erskine.

“The lads never gave up and it was great to see Harry Foxwell get another first team run out this time to achieve his dream of playing in front of an Andover crowd.”

Waite added: “We have a massive January coming up and we need to pick ourselves up, enjoy the break and go again.”

Andover struggled with late unavailability again prior to the match, which did not help the All Blacks.

However they were boosted by the welcome return of back Niko Rowe from injury and veteran Sam Froggett stepping in for a seasonal debut.

With Charlie Waite having to again play at stand-off however, the Andover back three of Dave Catt, Stef Long and man-of-the-match Josh Gibbs, faced the daunting task of facing probably the best back three in the league.

Despite a manful defensive effort, it was here that the visitors made them pay.

Waite said: “Sometimes you just have to take your hat off and say you were beaten by a better team.

“The lads who played gave it everything and probably shaded it up front, but their backs are electric and they punished us at every opportunity.”

The game began well for Andover as their forwards retained possession well and attacked the visitors repeatedly through the hard running of Nic Reed and Tom Erskine.

However Andover suffered a blow when they lost centre Ben Fulton to injury and, as they reorganised, Camberley took advantage with the opening score.

Andover did not heed the warning of how dangerous Camberley were on the counter and a series of poor decisions allowed the visitors to run riot.

Only a Charlie Waite penalty separated four further tries until just before the break when the forward dominance finally began to tell.

From a good lineout taken by Ben Ciccotti, Andover set up a series of drives and Kieran Jenvey dived over to give them hope with a try converted by Waite.

After the break playing down the slope, Andover continued the pressure and after some powerful scrums and a great break from Reed, Jenvey repeated the dose with another fine try, again converted by Waite.

All the hard work was soon undone however as Camberley once again broke out to score.

The Andover tactic was to go for the bonus point and throw caution to the wind in attack.

They made inroads, but also presented opportunities as they pressed and Camberley gratefully took them to increase their lead.

As time ran out Andover threw the kitchen sink at the visitors who defended manfully before Ciccotti again provided the lineout ball for Niko Rowe to smash through for a lovely try, again converted by Waite.

It was too little too late however and Andover were once again left empty handed.