Farnham v Midhurst

Farnham began their season with a pre-season warm up game for the 1st XV squad away to Midhurst on Saturday. Playing in Cowdray Park, with spectacular ruins as a back drop, the game gave Farnham the opportunity to put what they had been practising in training into a competitive environment.

Stand in captain Chris Penn kicked off the match, and although Angus Harrison was clattered Farnham quickly began to assert themselves on the game with plenty of possession and territory. As is often the case in these early games Farnham were guilty of rushing their play, and will need to show greater composure in applying greater structure to their game in future matches, although the coaches will be pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment shown by all of the players used. Mike Burton, playing out of position at inside centre, featured prominently in both attack and defence in the first half, and Farnham generated some good go forwards.

Penn opened the scoring with a well struck penalty after good work from the pack saw Midhurst forced to kill the ball at a ruck. From the kick off Farnham quickly recognised space out wide and veterans Karl Brown and Sid Cranstone delivered good quick passes to put flying winger Sam Greensitt in space in his own half. Greensitt impressively put on the afterburners to leave the Midhurst chasers in his wake and went on to score under the posts. Penn’s conversion gave Farnham a 10 – 0 lead and the confidence to put more structure on the game. The Midhurst pack chose to use both legal and illegal strategies to try and stop Farnham’s supply of ball, but with a solid scrum and the lineout going fairly well Farnham kept them pinned in their half.

The next score came when Deane Chiverton reacted superbly to a miss-thrown lineout to tackle the Midhurst ball carrier, and then quickly get to his feet to steal the ball. From this possession Farnham went wide, and despite a slip near the line Tom Coussins had enough gas to reach out and score an unconverted try in the corner. Even when Midhurst did have the ball any attacking threat was quickly covered, with Ollie Richford making a particularly big hit on the opposition winger.

Farnham led 15 – 0 at half time, although the score didn’t really reflect their dominance, and Director of Rugby Barry Warner made a number of changes. The second half was a different type of game, thanks mainly to the local referee’s interpretation of the laws, and Midhurst enjoyed far greater possession and territory. However, despite some sustained periods of pressure Midhurst never crossed the line due to some well organised and committed Farnham defending. Normally the coaches would have been furious at the number of penalties that Farnham conceded, but on this occasion they had sympathy for the way that the players were treated, and were pleased that despite such adversity the players kept their composure.

Having soaked up all that Midhurst had to offer Farnham again created chances of their own to score. Debutant Carl Perry carried the ball strongly in the centres but failed to find supporting players, and fullback Ollie Richford also ran elusively to gain good ground. Eventually James Peacock broke from just inside his own half and ran in to score under the posts for a try converted by Penn. Tom Coussins also went close to scoring his second try after some good footwork took him past two defenders and only a despairing tackle prevented him from grounding his own kick ahead into the dead ball area.

Farnham will need to raise their game for the league campaign ahead, but for a first run out of the season they can be fairly pleased with their efforts. With a number of players due to return from holiday and injury over the next two weeks the players know that they need to attend training regularly to hold down a position in the side. The club trains on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7pm and welcome new players who may wish to join.

Match report by: Carl Brown