Hornets performance keeps them above the Law

The first two fixture dates had to be re-arranged due to flooding and then International fixtures, but this time the fixture went ahead.

A beautiful sunny day welcomed the teams to the field, but a strong breeze, blowing along the pitch in the exact same direction as the slope suggested the match would be a game of two halves. As the teams warmed up, skipper Dan Ross lost the toss and Farnham would face the wind in the first half.

The Lawyers kicked off. The ball sailed into the air and strong carrying from Ralph Philips and Gareth Yeomans immediately gained ground for the Hornets. Wanting to set a tone, Dan Ross used a powerful hand-off in the initial attacking phases.

Whilst Law Society looked strong in the forwards, the Farnham backs were clearly a level above and once they started to get the ball they looked dangerous. Initially Ben Crean scythed through the midfield but when ball was moved wide right, John Weldon unfortunately couldn’t find Patrick Anderson to finish.

Undeterred, on the next attack, the backs ran hard at their opposite numbers again. James Corlett used his speed and power to break away, draw the remaining defenders and then released John Weldon to touch down. Against a tough wind and tight angle, the conversion attempt was missed. Farnham lead 0-5.

Law Society immediately hit back by using the wind to kick eighty metres and put the pressure on the Hornets. The lineout in the bottom right hand corner of the pitch was won by the Hornets but an isolated Hornets player conceded a penalty. This gave Law Society a strong position to attack from and a series of powerful “pick and go” drives from their pack climaxed when the rangy second row player reached through to put the ball down. The conversion was missed and this levelled the score at five a piece.

Quiet to this point, Matt Kelleher streaked away like a spiralling fire work, but as he twisted to try and get over the line, the referee judged the ball not to have been grounded when the bundle of players rolled over the line. Supporters on the opposite side line thought the evidence for a try was overwhelming, alas it was not to be.

Another attack for the Farnham backs and James Corlett ran around forty metres diagonally to score in the top left corner. Freshwater couldn’t convert so the score moved to 5-10.

Credit must go to the Law Society pack as they were very strong at the set piece, targeting the line-out well then using the scrummage at every opportunity. After another territory gaining kick, Law Society used the scrum five metres out to creep forward. Despite excellent tackling from Dean Chiverton, the try was scored and the successful conversion gave the home side the first lead of the day.

Sensing blood, Law Society wanted to hammer their advantage home at the end of the half. The wind at their back, they again used their rangy number four, who wriggled between a pair of defenders to score another. The successful conversion took the score to 19-10 to the home team at half time.

This was not case closed however as the Hornets would now attack with the wind and slope. This started with an expertly weighted kick from Andrew Freshwater. Tom Foster galloped onward like a rabid gorilla, tackling and disrupting the opposition ruck at every opportunity.

Once again the backs were the difference in the match and Henry Milas, now attacking from outside centre, slipped through several tackles to score just right of the posts. This allowed Freshwater to score and take the score to 19-17, the Hornets only slightly behind.

Feeling the pressure of the wind, that the visitors had to withstand in the first half, Law Society tried to kick the ball away. However Patch Anderson caught the ball back at the half way line and ran a weaving line back at the defence. He ran through a gap and almost scored himself before offloading to James Corlett who scored his second. Freshwater converted again and took the score to 19-24.

After losing the lead, Law Society attacked with renewed vigour. The next ten minutes saw constant pressure from the home side and only excellent tackling from the whole Hornets team helped them maintain the lead. Despite the great defence, penalties prevented Farnham from escaping their twenty-two.

Out of nowhere, Sid Cranstone sprinted and smashed his opposite man. Why did he do this? A question that would tax the wisest of men… however perhaps he though the tap and go penalty had been taken. After a stern telling off, the referee allowed play to resume.

Dan Greene made several strong tackles in midfield, preventing the Law Society player from offloading each time. Then out of nowhere skipper Dan Ross strode into a ruck, and punted the ball from the Law Society scrum halves hands (much to his disbelief!).

The ball was then dived on and secured by Adrian Brennan, who was supported by Matt Kelleher and Rory Walker. Fly half Andrew Freshwater then launched the ball forward and great chase work pinned the home team down. A fantastic attacking line on the next play saw substitute Tom Martin run through but the ball did not go to hand when moved wide.

Another backs attack, another excellent try. This one more direct than some of the previous, which saw Freshwater use Corlett on the dummy, then put Henry Milas through on an excellent running line. He then cut hard to his right to beat the covering full back and scored to take the score to 19-31 (with Freshwater’s third consecutive successful conversion).

The Hornets fitness was now clear to see and Matt Kelleher seemed to have caught the ball from the back of a lineout, run through and score. However the referee called it back, disallowing Kelleher’s second try of the day!

A final flourish saw Andrew Freshwater side step his way through the line, and then accelerate into the space behind. He then tried to put Patrick Kitson in for a try but the pass was too far behind him and was knocked on. This would have been the cherry on the cake but Kitson’s excellent supporting line was just too eager.

Another great win for this Hornets team. Despite coming up against the strong set piece of the Law Society, they managed to find a way to win and continue their march toward the league title. Next week the Hornets host local rivals Camberley for a crucial top of the table clash.

Lastly our thoughts go out to the three Hornets players all recovering from different operations at the moment.

Written by Oli Richford