Farnham U15's just pipped in epic

The first period saw Camberley camped out in between the Farnham 22 and 10 metre lines but the Farnham defence, unlike last year, was like a brick wall. The one time Camberley looked to have sneaked around the edge a last ditch tap tackle from George Northwood saw the ball into touch.

Fifteen minutes in, Farnham saw their first opportunity with the ball quickly moved across to the left wing for Alex Booty to have a run. He quickly showed why he is going to be an exciting rugby player to watch as he broke one tackle and went past two more. A cover tackle saw him into touch before he could break the last line of defence but it was Farnham’s best move so far.

Lineouts were more of a problem for us as we have introduced new calls and they have yet to bed in and Farnham were quickly back on the defensive. This time Harry Newton playing this season for Camberley saw a gap in the midfield and for the first time in the game a tackle was missed and he went through for their first score.

We turned around at half time 0 – 7 down but all of the boys knew they were not only in the game but that they were in a game!

The second half saw Farnham with more of the ball – from scrums and the breakdowns and more attacking opportunities followed. Both teams defended like lions and there seemed no way through. Jordan Greener had possibly our best opportunity with Matt Carrington taking a quick pass from Ali and making clean yards before offloading to Jordan in what seemed like some space. Sprinting down the right wing, it was clear that the Camberley defence had the touch line covered and with no inside pass available, Jordan cut inside and went past the first defender, the step back out was the one too far and the tackle came in but it was a close run thing.

The second and final score came a few minutes later. Farnham were defending their try line and won the ball. The clearance kick came off the side of the boot and instead of finding touch, it landed in the hands of Harry Newton on the 22. The cover was scrambled but it was not enough and he landed over for the second try of the day.

The whistle went a few minutes later and both teams can say that they had taken part in a pulsating game of rugby that truly could have gone either way.

Farnham players on the day:

• Freddy Tully
• Daniel Willett
• Felix Old
• Luke Convery
• Charlie Murray
• George Bolt
• Thomas Brooker
• Jordan Frost
• Alex Dewey
• Alex Chalker
• Alistair Williams
• Matthew Carrington
• Jordan Greener
• Alex Booty
• George Northwood
• Ben Turnbull
• David Tyler
• Michael Matthews
• Cameron Beach
• Nathan Gibson

My grateful thanks also to

• Matthew Alcock
• James Quick
• Jake Barnes
• Toby Fairhead

All of whom took part in the warm-up and made themselves available to play in the game and supported the team. They are the first names on the team sheet for our next non-league fixture.

Man of the Match award went to Matt Carrington. Anyone who has seen Jacoba Murray’s pictures on Snapfish will note that almost every picture of a certain former Farnham player had Matt in the process of “welcoming” him back to Farnham. I lost count of the tackles made. However, it was great to see them all friends in the clubhouse after – that is what rugby is all about!

A special mention for George Bolt as well for his magnificent charge down – which could so easily have led to a try.

Every player who pulled on a Farnham shirt on Sunday did his team and his parents proud. Taryke asked that no one leave anything out and they didn’t. There was nothing left in the tank

That is not to say that there is not more to come from this team. We know the areas where we can improve and that work will start on Wednesday. Sunday’s training session is now a critical session as preparation for our first league game on 7th October..

I started typing a couple of additional special mentions but when I got to 5 I realised that there was something good to say about every player on Sunday and this is probably not the right place. If the boys continue to train and to play the way they have started this season that are going to have a great year.

Finally – it is axiomatic that the opposition always look bigger – both sides are usually thinking it at the same time! On this occasion I think it is fair to say that Camberley did have a slight size advantage (it’s in the water). What was pleasing to note was that the Farnham boys matched them physically as well as in the skills department. Well done to all the boys.

Cliff