A well crafted 50 takes us through

Farnham welcomed Chobham RFC to Monkton Lane for the first round of their section of the Papa John Community Cup. Both teams finished seventh in their respective Level 6 leagues with both teams accumulating a sack full of try bonus points. With two attacking sides looking for a good cup run to round off their seasons, the sizeable crowd anticipated a ding-dong battle.
Following a curtain raiser game between Farnham U13s and tourists Wymondham RFC, Chobham kicked off with the wind behind them. The visitors started the game well. Using their strong set piece to gain forward momentum, there were soon within touching distance of the Farnham line. They patiently kept it tight and eventually powered over from close range for their opening score. Conversion successful, 0-7.
Farnham looked threatening with ball in hand and needed a response. The pack was bolstered by the return of Number 8 Oscar Henderson. Barrelling runs by him and Harrison Horner made early inroads into Chobham territory. Farnham had a scrum five meters out from which the initial carry from the base was held short. However, the ball was recycled and shipped smartly to Toby Salmon who sliced through to open Farnham’s account. Conversion successful, 7-7.
Farnham wrestled the momentum in their favour when Jack Scullion and Reece Stennett combined well to put Farnham in behind the Chobham defence. Harry West quickly spun the ball away to find Henderson running a great line at high speed. He burst through the defence to dive over for Farnham’s second. Conversion successful, 14-7.
Chobham came back quickly as Farnham failed to clear their lines at the restart. The Chobham scrum dominated. Their mighty shove was stopped just short from where the Chobham scrum half slipped through two tackles to dive over for their second. Conversion successful, 14-14.
The match flowed back and forth with an exhibition of attacking prowess from both teams. Farnham were next to score. Jemi Akin-Olugbade broke through a couple of tackles before offloading to Jack Bemelmans who found flanker Jack Haylett on his shoulder to run in under the posts. Conversion successful, 21-14.
Chobham were determined to get to the half time break on level terms and were gifted good field position by some unforced errors from Farnham. The ball was kept tight before eventually the Chobham centre powered over from close range. Conversion successful, 21-21 as the half time whistle blew.
Farnham had the wind behind them in the second half and, unlike last week’s final league game against London Irish, they used it successfully to pin Chobham back. The boot of Scullion and Salmon did the business. A penalty in front of the posts gave Salmon the chance to give Farnham the lead which he easily took. 24-21.
An injury to Callum Jones meant Joe Wigmore came on for his first appearance since rejoining the club. Loose forwards Mike Mizzi and debutant Tom Hammond also came on with Jeff Leybourne bolstering the front row. Wigmore made immediate impact earning a breakdown penalty 40 meters out. Salmon opted for the posts and an accurate, wind assisted strike extended Farnham’s lead, 27-21.
Farnham now dominated possession as Chobham’s heavy pack tired. A well worked lineout move saw Jack Scullion break through and draw the last defender to put Toby Simmons away. Despite stepping over the line, he generously passed to Oscar Henderson who dotted down. Conversation successful, 34-21.

Farnham continued to pin Chobham back and earned a penalty 25 meters out which Salmon converted to extend Farnham’s lead to 37-21. Chobham refused to throw in the towel and another poor restart exit from Farnham gave Chobham a chance to kick to the corner. Although the initial drive was stopped, their forward pack found space in the corner to score their fourth try. Conversion successful, 37-28.
Chobham now had the momentum and looked likely to score next. A Farnham scrum on their 22 provided the Chobham pack a good opportunity to earn a scrum penalty. However, with his pack being shoved smartly backwards, Henderson cleaned up the ball from the base and got Farnham out of danger. He then beat two defenders on the blind side before brilliantly offloading to Jack Bemelmans who showed his pace to reach the Chobham 22. The ball was slickly recycled through Jemi Akin-Olugbade and Salmon and Jack Scullion was on hand to finish well in the corner. The Faithful on the balcony loudly appreciated this end-to-end score. The conversion went over from wide out to extend Farnham’s lead, 44-28.
The game now opened up as Chobham tried all they could to stay in the game. Having unloaded their bench, their young replacement fly half put in an audacious cross-field kick. This was well gathered by their winger who skinned the defence and ran in under the posts for arguably the score of a game peppered with great tries. Conversion successful, 44-35.
With five minutes left on the clock, Farnham had a penalty just over 40 meters out. Salmon decided to go for the posts to put his team out of sight. He sent the ball high, true and through the middle of the posts to extend Farnham’s lead, 47-35. Minutes later, Farnham won a penalty in the exact same spot and encouraged by his earlier success, Salmon repeated the process with aplomb to take the final score to 50-35.
This was one of the performances of Farnham’s season. They managed the game well and scored some excellent tries. For the next round, Farnham make the long trip to South Gloucestershire club Thornbury RFC next Saturday. By coincidence, Thornbury Colts tour to Farnham on the weekend after with a score to be settled one way or the other!
Presidents Podium, voted this week by recently retired first team players: 3- Toby Salmon, 2- Oscar Henderson, 1- Jack Bemelmans