U7 A's win Reeds festival

Farnham U7 A's Triumphant

Talented young Farnham rugby players headed to Weybridge for the Reeds U7s A Festival and returned home triumphant and exhausted with the Winners’ Cup in their hands.

1st Pool Game – vs. Dorking Win 7-1
Amazing start by the team, including two great tries by Stanley Platt and 3three by Tom Humphreys. John Henry Hill ran the length of the pitch to score one and there was a great try by Oli McCulloch. The score was maintained by superb defence by Josh Grinsted, Tess Adlam and many tries were excellently set up by some passing and support from Conor Le Brun and Luke McGinn.

2nd Pool Game – vs. Rosslyn Park Win 3-2
A try-saving tag by Conor in the corner halted Rosslyn’s good early start. Stanley made a break but unluckily just went into touch. Against the early run of play Rosslyn Park score a well-worked try. Following the restart Oli McCulloch runs from the halfway to score and level the game. A period of tenacious defence let by Oliver Ryman and Tom Humphreys, prevents Rosslyn scoring. Tom Dickin then makes a break and passes to Conor to ease the pressure and put Farnham ahead for the first time. In the second half Tess Adlam weaves her way and scores a great try to give Farnham some breathing space. 3-1 with a minute to go. A last minute try by Rosslyn Park brought the game to an end and a close game was won by Farnham 3-2

3rd Pool Game – vs. Cobham Win 8-2
The final pool game was an example of persistent defence and some superb support running and pace from the young starlets. John-Henry opened the scoring, followed by Conor and Josh, for an early 3-0 lead. Cobham pulled one back but Tom Humphreys makes a break and passes to Conor to increase the scoring to 4-1. Again Cobham scored but Farnham closed out the rest of the game. Some neat interchange between Oliver Ryman and Oli McCulloch enables Stanley to score, outpacing the flagging defence. Tom Dickin, Oliver Ryman and Tom Humphreys then put the game out of sight, helped by some well-worked passes from Luke and Tess.

Semi Final – vs. Reeds – Win 4-4 (Farnham go through on better pool results and tries scored)
A well-worked opening move from Tom Humphreys sets the Farnham side off to a great start. Some impressive tagging from Tess and Conor held Reeds off, but unluckily Reeds just sneaked a score in the corner. John-Henry then makes a break and passes to Tom Humphreys in space who runs through the flailing tackles to put Farnham ahead once again. A period of Reeds pressure leads them to level the score and then almost go ahead, but for a try saving tag from Josh.
Luke, Tess and Tom Humphreys then put in a faultless tagging display early in the second half, but a good break by Reeds puts them ahead for the first time in the game. Tom Dickin, who came on at half time, then broke through the defence to level the game at 3-3.
Again Reeds score after a well worked move and suddenly the Farnham team are down in the game and facing some pressure with the clock running down. Final play of the game sees some nice passing down the line to allow Tom Dickin to score to level the game at 4-4 before the final whistle. No extra time so previous scores determined the finalist and Farnham’s try count put them into their first final at their first attempt.

Final – vs. Richmond - Win 5-2
Not sure who was more excited: the Farnham players, or their increasingly vocal coaches and parents, who cheered throughout the day. Almost from the start Stanley gets the ball to help ease some of the pressure and put Farnham ahead. Following a turnover ball, brought about by good defence from Tess, Tom Humphreys runs the full length to put Farnham 2-0 ahead. Some well-worked defence from Conor, Oli McCulloch and Luke ensure Farnham go into the break ahead.
Second half and 5 minutes of play left, Richmond responds almost straight away and score to make it 2-1. Oliver Ryman makes a quick pass and sets Tom Humphreys off and running to weave past the Richmond defence to increase the lead to 3-1. Richmond score again 3-2 as the clock is beginning to run down to make it a tense final couple of minutes.
Farnham, however, wanted to finish with a flourish and Josh, John-Henry and Tom Dickin each made some great passes and tags and enabled Tom Humphreys and Josh Grinsted to score a further two tries to win the trophy and send the team and supporters wild.

It was a great day and a wonderful start for Farnham U7 As at their first experience of tournament rugby.