Farnham 2nd XV 37 - Old Wellingtonians 2nd XV 10

An overcast Wilkinson Way greeted Farnham 2nd team as they took the field for their first league match against Old Wellingtonians 2nd team. Early possession was all Farnham's as they pinned Wellingtonians deep in their own half for the first twenty minutes but, due to some handling errors and a frustrating inability to see an overlap at times, were not crossing the line. Eventually, though, the relentless pressure of a fired-up defence and a dominant Farnham pack at the scrum lead to the first try on 25 minutes in by scrum half Chris Dury, Andy Freshwater missing the conversion. The story of the remainder of the first half was one of Farnham's dominance across the piece, with scrum, line out, territory and possession all favouring the fired-up hosts. Tom Foster at open side flanker, Patrick Anderson at wing and Ben Gandy at 8 all distinguished themselves in an aggressive defensive effort that never looked less than intimidating. Nonetheless,the visitors scored a breakaway try before the half followed by a successful conversion, their knowledge of each other's play gained over several years since schoolboy days serving them well in some slick interchanges as they eventually breached the Farnham defence. An answering try from Dan Ross at hooker, and a missed conversion, resulted in a score of 10-7 to Farnham as the half was drawing to a close. After securing the ball from the restart, Farnham agin marched relentlessly down the pitch, eventually camping 5 metres out from the Wellingtonians line before Chris Dury burst over for another fine try off the base of a ruck. The half ended 15-7 to Farnham.

The story of the second half was very much one of continued Farnham dominance, as scrum after scrum went their way regardless of feed, giving the back line lots of front-foot ball as turnovers and errors were forced from an increasingly pressurised Wellingtonians. A single successful penalty was Wellingtonians only score for the final 40, as they struggled to breach Farnham's line. Further tries from Patrick Anderson (Man of the Match), Andy Freshwater and another two from Chris Dury set the seal on a resounding victory for Farnham 2'sto get their league campaign off to the best possible start.

Farnham 2nd Team 37-10 Old Wellintonians 2nd Team