Farnham v Battersea

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, Wrecclesham, Farnham RFC stepped out onto a glorious pitch (that can’t be backed up) on a delightfully sunny day to destroy their old foe’s Battersea Iornsides.
The warm up and preparation for the game went well, and not deterred by the opposition’s late arrival, Farnham were focussed and ready to continue the recent good run they have been enjoying.
It transpired that Battersea were the better tossers, and chose to receive the kick, and play with the sun behind them for the first half. After a good passage of play, Farnham found themselves with a lineout just inside the oppositions 22, and after sensational ball was won, and a little trundling took the ball to within 10 metres, the ball was shipped out into the grateful arms of Chris Penn, who threw an outrageous dummy, skipped inside the centres, and dived gracefully over the line. Some dirty bugger tried to trip Chris Penn on his way to scoring, and he benefitted from a 10 minute rest on the sideline. Chris added the extra two points.
Farnham looked to take advantage of the extra man, and kept the pressure on Battersea, eventually, with the opposition in possession on their own 22, some wizardry work on the floor from both the forwards and the backs allowed for a Farnham turnover which Alex Carlson took full advantage of, seeing his opening, he took the ball forward, deliberated a pass, but upon seeing a fat balding hooker in front of him, delivered a sublime sidestep to go in untouched under the posts. Chris duly added the conversion. This was starting to look like a great day for Farnham, and confidence was beginning to rise.
Some mouthwatering passages of play followed, but unfortunately, the finish eluded Farnham each time. Farnham received a penalty after one of these scintillating works of art, and Chris kindly added the extra 3 points.
Farnham then took the foot of gas somewhat, and allowed the opposition back into the game, it wasn’t long before Farnham found themselves camped out in their own 22. Although some sterling defence followed, the opposition managed to sneak over the Farnham line for their first score under the posts, this was converted.
After an inspiring half time chit chat, and a segment or two of orange, Farnham were aware they would need to up the game to ensure they put the opposition away, and allow us to bask in the glory we all wanted.
Farnham started strong, and were denied an almost certain try scoring opportunity by a Battersea player who started crying after being sat down by the shuffling truffling Trodden. This was disappointing for Farnham, and they were unable to capitalise immediately after this, allowing Battersea to clear their lines.
Unfortunately, Farnham were unable to replicate some of the fine rugby that saw them dominate the first 30 mins of the game. An element of ill discipline and cheap penalties conceded allowed Battersea to shoe horn some dominance of their own into the game, and it was not long until penalty was conceded which was converted by their anger stricken fly half, taking the score to 17-10 in Farnham’s favour.
Farnham spent the majority of the rest of this half within their own territory, however, as a credit to the defence, were able to prevent any further scores from Battersea, and with the last clearance kick of the game, a fortunate bounce ensued, allowing James Corlett, with his speckled grey hair, to snipe the ball from some flailing Battersea hands and have a leisurely stroll in under the posts. All that remained was for Alex to steal the conversion, not bothering with the kicking tee, he chose a cheeky drop kick to add the extra 2 points.
The final score of 24-10 was perhaps a little flattering, however, Farnham deserved the win, but know they will need to up their game over the next few weeks to ensure this winning streak continues, and keep pushing for promotion.
I have to say, the touchline was monitored very well for the last 25 mins of the game, and this is definitely worth mentioning.
There were some great phases of play, continuity and collaborating of forwards and backs throughout the game, however, Farnham need to play this whirlwind rugby for the full 80 minutes, and not allow teams to creep their way back into games.