It was a good day for rugby as Farnham took on Battersea Ironsides at Monkton Lane to contest the quarter final of the Papa John Community Cup competition. Ironsides kicked off from the town end with a meaningful breeze behind them and underfoot, a good, firm pitch given the recent damp weather.
As is their wont, Farnham started slowly, and the initial exchanges had the team relying on their tried and tested defence as they were pinned against their line. However, that defence held and a turnover on the line allowed the impressive Tobias Trafford to hack the ball out of trouble and set up the Black and Whites to rumble forward.
Harry West at scrum half pushed the pack forward with both slick passing and effective box kicks. Props Jemi Akin Olugbade and Marco Azevedo made strong carries as first receivers. Together with hooker Ben Brown, they ensured Farnham won their scrum ball and with Harrison Horner and Tom Dullage in the row made life difficult for Irons on their put in and won a couple of key scrum turnovers. Jonathan Vincent at No 8 put in another standout performance both in defence and on the charge. The wise old head of Toby Comley combined with the youthful exuberance of Jack Bemelmans to be both a nuisance and a threat on the flanks.
On the 25th minute winger Williams came off for treatment and Sam Woodhams was on from the bench to prop. Olugbade shifted from prop to his career position at centre and Stennett shuffled out the wing. As the game wore on both Jack Haylett and Archie Cleeve came off the bench to give respite to injured or wearied players and make telling impact.
Fizzing passes from Ollie Brown at fly half gave the backs plenty of front foot ball with which to attack the Ironsides’ line. Centres Toby Salmon and Reece Stennett punched holes while Trafford and Max Williams skipped and sped on their respective wings. Rhys Bassett at full back was secure under the high ball and more than once joined the attack to create some panic in the Ironsides defence.
The game was a pulsating, ding-dong battle with no quarter given or taken. While both sides would make ground, overall, both defences ruled the roost. Therefore, both sides were eager to take what points they could with Farnham edging the exchange of penalties two to one. Salmon was unerringly accurate. The score remained at 6-3 until the last seconds of the first half when Jonny Vincent launched himself from the base of a Farnham scrum fifteen meters outs, brushed the defence aside and piled over. Salmon’s conversion attempt was good.
TRhe Black and Whites must have taken their half time oranges with some confidence give a 13-3 scoreline, Ironsides rarely in their 22 thus far and the breeze in their favour for the second half.
Salmon T literally launched the second half with a huge – and accurate – restart kick that won Farnham the throw in deep inside Ironsides 22. Unfortunately, the team was unable to capitalise on this excellent field position and it was Ironsides who broke out through their mercurial No 14 who released their No 7 into space and over the line under the posts. 13-10 after five minutes of the half.
Ironsides’ blood was up and cheered on my a large contingent of travelling support - who contrived to bring the atmosphere of a soccer match to proceedings – they marched the restart back to the Farnham line. Here the famous D did its work with a brilliant turnover in the line. But this was to no avail as Ironsides flooded back from the clearance kick to power over and put their noses in front. 13-15, the conversion missed.
Ironsides now sniff a win and power forward from the restart. Stennett was called upon to pull off yet another try-saving tackle, but Farnham were pinged for not rolling away at the tackle in front of the posts and Ironsides took the points. 13-18.
With well drilled defences doing their job, it took individual brilliance to break the deadlock. Toby Salmon was first – and second - to strike. On twenty-five minutes he broke the line and released Trafford who sped in from 40 meters out to dot down at arm’s length with the cover tackler clinging to his ankles. Conversion missed but the scores were tied at 18 all. Salmon’s second break was a classic chip over the onrushing defence to gather a kind bounce and scamper in. He converted his try and Farnham had the lead 25-18 with minutes left.
From the restart, the Black and Whites brought the ball back in hand – but were perhaps just a little bit too frantic in their attempt to seal the game. The ball was spilt and Ironsides No 15 – a thorn in Farnham’s side all game – broke out to sprint 50 meters and score under the posts. The conversion was good, and the scores tied.
The referee had informed the players that in the event of a tie at the end of 80 minutes, the away team would claim the victory. Therefore, Ironsides needed to just play out the last minute from the restart in midfield until the clock ran down and their 10 then joyously hoofed the ball out.
Your reporter has studied the rules of the competition as published on the RFU website and there it stipulates the usual conclusion to a tied knock-out cup game - i.e. 20 minutes of extra time, try count back etc and eventually the toss of the coin. Whatever, the first law of rugby is that the referee is the sole judge of fact and of law during a match – and so Farnham must take the result on the chin, hold their heads up and eagerly look forward to next season with some exciting new talent coming forward during the cup campaign.
Presidents Podium:
Toby Salmon, 3
Tobias Trafford, 2
Jonathan Vincent, 1