Farnham U15's vs Old Emanuel U15's

On a surprisingly Sunny afternoon in Farnham, the U15s welcomed Old Emanuel's U15s to Wilkinson Way, for the first time since their meeting in the Surrey Waterfall Cup final last year. This was going to be a good days Rugby

The game started in the way it was to proceed with both teams up for the game from the off playing some good flowing rugby. T he Farnham pack quickly obtained a dominance in the Scrum and at the breakdown, but were being let down by handling errors at the end of some flowing moves. Old Emanuel's were not daunted though occasionally breaking out of the Farnham press with some powerful rugby from a couple of strong runners. However, with the game flowing nicely and Farnham slowly turning the screw Old Emanuel's were forced further and further back into their own 22. Farnham winning a scrummage in an attacking position produced a quality blind side move which was expertly finished off by Tom Lee breaking a couple of tackles in the process to open the scoring. Farnham 5 Old Emanuel's 0

Following this try Farnham were gaining in confidence and starting to play some lovely flowing rugby combining there forward power, epitomised by Sam Wright in a rampant mood and their fast flowing back play. In this mood it was not long before Farnham added to the score. A superb break by Adam Ogilvie following fast ball from the ruck broke the Old Emanuel's line. He was ably supported by Louis Thomas who receiving a well timed pass finished off the move superbly under the posts. Samuel Johnston stepped up the extend the Farnham lead to 12. Farnham 12 Old Emanuel's 0

Farnham continued to press Old Emanuel's running the ball down the backs at will and creating a lot of pressure. However, following a Farnham offside Old Emanuel's managed to relieve the pressure eventually winning themselves a Scrummage on the Farnham 22. Old Emanuel's finally won clean ball from the subsequent scrum with their powerful centre finally breaking the Farnham line to score under the posts. This was becoming a very entertaining game of rugby for the decent sized crowd of parents to watch. Farnham 12 Old Emanuel's 7 ( Half Time )

The second half started in a similar vain to the first with Farnham utilising their full squad. The Farnham forwards continued to cause problems, but Old Emanuel's held on stoically. After a relieving penalty kick following an unfortunate Farnham accidental offside, Old Emanuel's finally managed to manoever themselves into and excellent position and break the Farnham defensive line to level the scores. Farnham 12 Old Emanuel's 12. Farnham were not ready to give up though with some crunching tackles from Louis Thomas and Tom Lee helping to gain Farnham the ascendancy again. With another set of fast hands down the line Farnham again managed to break the Old Emanuel's defence to regain the lead . The try was superbly finished by Alfie McCormick . Charlie Cochrane converting to extend Farnham's lead to 19-12. Farnham were starting to become dominant

Very much against the run of play the game swung again. After a moment of individual brilliance from an Old Emanuels forwards, who breaking at speed from within his own 22, powered his way through desperate Farnham tackles to score the equalising try under the posts. As the game entered the last 5 minutes it could have gone either way. Eventually Old Emanuel's managed to use the confidence of a resurgent pack to drive over the Farnham line and seal the victory. Farnham 19 Old Emanuel's 24 ( Full Time )

This was a very entertaining game of rugby from two exciting teams and showed the depth of talent within the Farnham squad. Keep it coming at Reading next week…..