Waterfall Cup - U16Bs vs Effingham U16Bs

By David Adams

On a dank and gloomy December afternoon at Wilkinson Way, Farnham took on Effingham in the Waterfall Cup.

This was always going to be a difficult game against a well organised team with a powerful pack. We started strongly and spent a lot of time in the Effingham half. The first 15 minutes was a rugged affair with no quarter given and certainly none asked. However Effingham were starting to win more of the rucks and from one of these they broke through our defensive line and scored in the right corner. The conversion was missed but from the kick off they ran the ball down our left flank before scoring under the posts.

We spent most of the next 10 minutes encamped in our own half but despite brave tackling by Oli Kirkpatrick, Ben Seymour, and Josh Smith, we conceded another couple of tries. We then had a period of possession and from a ruck we advanced into enemy territory. Kian Ashcroft made a darting run across the back of the ruck which acted as a great decoy as Tom Adams box kicked the ball down field. For the first time Effingham were at six and sevens as the black and whites charged forward. A good passing move released Nye Johnson down the left wing but he has bundled into touch. All attempts to clear their lines failed and it seemed like we were in a good position to put points on the board. However good rucking from Effingham eventually helped them secure the ball and in the dying seconds of the half they breached our defence and scored another try.

The half time team talk was very positive from both coach Al and the players and we started the second half well, even though we were trailing 31-0. There was little to choose between the teams for the next 15 minutes. Our pack scrumaged really well with Scott Atchison, Cameron Bellenger, Hamish Watson, Kyle Drablow and Max Williams all making important tackles and taking the game to Effingham. The game was now being played at pace and on a sticky pitch and something had to give. Tom HT made a good run but was thwarted by some strong defending. Another good passing move saw the ball pass from Harry McGuigan to Hari Tote to Jack Gilbert, who was again prevented from scoring by good defending. Unfortunately Effingham were again taking control and a good passing move along their backs lead to a try for their right winger. A few minutes later Effingham won a scrum on the half way line and another slick passing move lead to another score.

In the final minutes of the game we foiled another scoring attempt and from the 22 drop out Oli Kirkpatrick ran the ball to the halfway line. He passed the ball to Tom Adams who stiff armed two defenders before grubber kicking the ball into their 22. In the ensuing chase the Effingham fullback was forced to carry the ball over the goal line and touch down to give us a 5m scrum. Winning the scrum, we hurled ourselves towards the try line and Oli KP went over but was deemed to be held up.

The final score didn’t accurately reflect the balance of play or the amount of effort the Farnham team put into the game. Podium points were in third place Tom HT, joint second Seb D’Entrecasteux and Tom Adams and first Ben Seymour.