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Sat 16 Sep 2023 · Regional 2 South Central
Newbury Blues
1st XV
24
47
Rampant Farnham win in style
Mark Weeks18 Sep 2023 - 08:28
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The young guns blaze!
Report by Toby Salmon
Farnham travelled to unbeaten Newbury looking to kickstart their season after a couple of close defeats. Farnham welcomed back the experienced half-back duo of Ollie Brown and Ben Jones. Academy graduates Fin Basil and Jeff Leybourne made their debuts while Tom Brooker and Matt Kouris were welcomed back into Farnham shirts. A fast pitch and a dry afternoon provided the perfect conditions for the Black and White’s fast, open, running game – a game they executed with real panache.
Farnham kicked off and once again impressed by being quick out of the blocks. Strong carries and good interplay between backs and forwards. Farnham were soon putting the pressure on the boys from Berkshire who nevertheless made their tackles. However, the breakthrough came when Ben Jones fizzed the ball to Max Williams on the wing who finished brilliantly in the corner. Conversion missed but the ideal start for Farnham, 0-5.
Farnham secured the restart and the forwards continued to carry well with Fin Basil and Tom Brooker making considerable inroads. The backline linked up well with Fin Anderson - in his first game of the season - making hard yards in midfield while Recce Stennett and Sam Thomas threatened in the wide channels. Again, Farnham were in the Newbury 22 where Ollie Brown drew the defensive line and passed to prop Jemi Akin-Olugbade who cut a line reminiscent of his career at centre to score Farnham’s second try. Conversion successful 0-12.
Frustrated, Newbury’s penalty count started to rise, and they were eventually reduced to 14 men after a high tackle. Toby Salmon slotted the easy penalty to make it 0-15.
Farnham dominated possession and spent most of the first period in Newbury territory. Fin Anderson picked up an unfortunate eye injury and was replaced by the versatile Callum Jones. Farnham made the 14 Newbury men work hard and broke through after ten plus phases that set up Toby Salmon to step inside the drift defence and score next to the posts. Conversion successful 0-22.
The Farnham attack was now rampant! The playmakers controlled the tempo, and the team as a whole kept the errors to a minimum. After immaculate bands had moved the ball wide, Brooker made a break down the right wing and offloaded to Salmon in support. He was held short but was able to pop the ball to Stennett at his shoulder. Conversion successful, 0-29.
Newbury were back to 15 men but Farnham were determined to keep them scoreless in the first half – and more. With the 40 minutes almost up, Farnham kicked a penalty to the corner. Josh Watson broke away from the back of the rolling maul to bring Farnham within 10 meters. Quick ball from the base of the ruck and Ollie Brown found Salmon on a hard line to slice through the defence and score under the posts. A successful conversion capped off one of the finest first-half displays from Farnham in recent years. 0-36.
Newbury are a proud and ambitious club and were not going to take that drubbing lying down. Meanwhile, Farnham were perhaps a little over-confident. Result? The Newbury centre powered through some lackadaisical Farnham defending to score out wide pretty much from the restart kick. 5-36.
Encouraged by their early success, Newbury now kept possession and played in Farnham's half. In a reversal of roles from the second half, ill-discipline now let Farnham down. Gifted field position, Newbury put in the phases to go over again, and a successful conversion made it 12-36.
Loose forwards Jonny Vincent and Josh Watson led the Farnham fight back. Mike Mizzi came off the bench and brought his effervescent and impactful presence to change the momentum of the game. Jeff Leybourne came on for his debut to make a break off the back of a lineout and put Farnham very much on the front foot. Impressive interplay between forwards and backs took the ball deep into Newbury territory and stretched their defence until a long pass from Ben Jones found Callum Jones out wide. He took on the Newbury defence before a lovely back door offload found Salmon who finished in the corner to complete his hat trick. Conversion missed, 12-41.
A trademark breakout from Jonny Vincent from the restart put Farnham back in the Newbury half but the offload to Brooker did not quite stick. Farnham’s penalty count was on the rise again and Olugbade was rested for 10 minutes after a high tackle. Newbury made the extra man count and scored through their right winger. 17-41.
The Farnham set piece functioned well with Marco Azevedo having another strong game and Matt Kouris very accurate at the line out. This set up a couple of Toby Salmon penalties that put the game out of reach at 17-47. Farnham had hoped to deny Newbury any league points. However, with a minute left on the clock, Newbury powered over from close range to earn themselves a try bonus point and take the final score to 24-47.
President’s Podium: Tom Brooker- 3, Ollie Brown- 2, Matt Kouris- 1
Farnham travelled to unbeaten Newbury looking to kickstart their season after a couple of close defeats. Farnham welcomed back the experienced half-back duo of Ollie Brown and Ben Jones. Academy graduates Fin Basil and Jeff Leybourne made their debuts while Tom Brooker and Matt Kouris were welcomed back into Farnham shirts. A fast pitch and a dry afternoon provided the perfect conditions for the Black and White’s fast, open, running game – a game they executed with real panache.
Farnham kicked off and once again impressed by being quick out of the blocks. Strong carries and good interplay between backs and forwards. Farnham were soon putting the pressure on the boys from Berkshire who nevertheless made their tackles. However, the breakthrough came when Ben Jones fizzed the ball to Max Williams on the wing who finished brilliantly in the corner. Conversion missed but the ideal start for Farnham, 0-5.
Farnham secured the restart and the forwards continued to carry well with Fin Basil and Tom Brooker making considerable inroads. The backline linked up well with Fin Anderson - in his first game of the season - making hard yards in midfield while Recce Stennett and Sam Thomas threatened in the wide channels. Again, Farnham were in the Newbury 22 where Ollie Brown drew the defensive line and passed to prop Jemi Akin-Olugbade who cut a line reminiscent of his career at centre to score Farnham’s second try. Conversion successful 0-12.
Frustrated, Newbury’s penalty count started to rise, and they were eventually reduced to 14 men after a high tackle. Toby Salmon slotted the easy penalty to make it 0-15.
Farnham dominated possession and spent most of the first period in Newbury territory. Fin Anderson picked up an unfortunate eye injury and was replaced by the versatile Callum Jones. Farnham made the 14 Newbury men work hard and broke through after ten plus phases that set up Toby Salmon to step inside the drift defence and score next to the posts. Conversion successful 0-22.
The Farnham attack was now rampant! The playmakers controlled the tempo, and the team as a whole kept the errors to a minimum. After immaculate bands had moved the ball wide, Brooker made a break down the right wing and offloaded to Salmon in support. He was held short but was able to pop the ball to Stennett at his shoulder. Conversion successful, 0-29.
Newbury were back to 15 men but Farnham were determined to keep them scoreless in the first half – and more. With the 40 minutes almost up, Farnham kicked a penalty to the corner. Josh Watson broke away from the back of the rolling maul to bring Farnham within 10 meters. Quick ball from the base of the ruck and Ollie Brown found Salmon on a hard line to slice through the defence and score under the posts. A successful conversion capped off one of the finest first-half displays from Farnham in recent years. 0-36.
Newbury are a proud and ambitious club and were not going to take that drubbing lying down. Meanwhile, Farnham were perhaps a little over-confident. Result? The Newbury centre powered through some lackadaisical Farnham defending to score out wide pretty much from the restart kick. 5-36.
Encouraged by their early success, Newbury now kept possession and played in Farnham's half. In a reversal of roles from the second half, ill-discipline now let Farnham down. Gifted field position, Newbury put in the phases to go over again, and a successful conversion made it 12-36.
Loose forwards Jonny Vincent and Josh Watson led the Farnham fight back. Mike Mizzi came off the bench and brought his effervescent and impactful presence to change the momentum of the game. Jeff Leybourne came on for his debut to make a break off the back of a lineout and put Farnham very much on the front foot. Impressive interplay between forwards and backs took the ball deep into Newbury territory and stretched their defence until a long pass from Ben Jones found Callum Jones out wide. He took on the Newbury defence before a lovely back door offload found Salmon who finished in the corner to complete his hat trick. Conversion missed, 12-41.
A trademark breakout from Jonny Vincent from the restart put Farnham back in the Newbury half but the offload to Brooker did not quite stick. Farnham’s penalty count was on the rise again and Olugbade was rested for 10 minutes after a high tackle. Newbury made the extra man count and scored through their right winger. 17-41.
The Farnham set piece functioned well with Marco Azevedo having another strong game and Matt Kouris very accurate at the line out. This set up a couple of Toby Salmon penalties that put the game out of reach at 17-47. Farnham had hoped to deny Newbury any league points. However, with a minute left on the clock, Newbury powered over from close range to earn themselves a try bonus point and take the final score to 24-47.
President’s Podium: Tom Brooker- 3, Ollie Brown- 2, Matt Kouris- 1
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