In a hard fought relegation battle at their Wrecclesham ground, Farnham Under 15 defeated London Irish 17 -14 to secure their position in League 2 for next season’s Surrey RFU junior competition.

A Farnham victory looked unlikely after the first 15 minutes with London Irish scoring twice to take a 14 point lead.  Irish fielded a large pack and some talented backs who made the most of several unforced handling and kicking errors from Farnham. 

The Farnham fight-back was lead by the forwards who did a great job of securing possession at the set piece and then recycling quickly at the breakdown.  This pressure provided Farnham no less that three shots at goal from penalties, all of which went wide.  It did not look like it was to be Farnham’s day.

However just before half time skipper Hector Hoyte Bone barged over in the corner to score Farnham’s first try.  Although unconverted, this try turned the game.  Farnham were on the front foot from the kick-off of the second half and stayed there until the final whistle.  Early in the half the mighty Joe Curran rolled off the back of a maul to cross the line.  Hector Hoyte Bone took the skipper’s responsibility for the kick which sailed over the cross bar to bring the score to 12 – 14 with twenty minutes to play.

Farnham used the wind at their backs and the boot to keep Irish pinned in their own half. The winning score came from the line-out, which had worked well all match for Farnham.  It was a classic catch and drive that set up the rolling maul from which Hector Hoyte Bone launched himself to score that season-saving try.

The game finished in high drama with Irish awarded a kickable penalty on the stroke of time.  The kick was scuffed and the Farnham catcher managed to knock on so give Irish an attacking scrum just five yards from the Farnham line.  Farnham’s defence in those dying seconds of the game encapsulated the spirit of a side that had earned their win and the right to play in this league next season.