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Sat 16 Dec 2023 · Regional 2 South Central
1st XVNewbury Blues
68
10
A first class performance
Mark Weeks18 Dec 2023 - 13:34
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Young guns blaze again
Report by Toby Salmon
Farnham welcomed Newbury to Monkton Lane for the last game before the Christmas break. Farnham handed a debut to young hooker Chris Ratcliffe who was back from University and the team was bolstered with injury returnees skipper Toby Salmon and defence powerhouse Josh Watson.
Farnham kicked off into a cool breeze and maintained their usual home “fast start”. An early penalty gave them a chance to kick to the corner and with the rolling maul held short, the powerful, in form Harrison Horner powered over from close range. Conversion successful and 7-0 within the first 2 minutes.
The Newbury squad was plagued with injuries and so this team saw a number of players out of position. Nevertheless, they had come to play with their good brand of rugby.
Farnham’s Max Williams was a handful in attack as usual and his break got Farnham close to the line. The ball was recycled with Fin Basil running a great line to go in under the posts. Conversion successful 14-0.
Farnham were full of confidence, claimed the kick off and chose to run the ball out. Toby Simmons started the move before offloading to Fin Anderson who drew the last man. He found debutant Chris Ratcliff on his shoulder to score his first 1st XV try. Conversion successful 21-0. Fin Anderson was involved in the next try when his audacious offload somehow found Max Williams who broke through the Newbury defence. He offloaded to Toby Salmon who sprinted under the posts. Conversion successful with the league bonus point secured in the first 15 minutes 28-0.
Despite the Black and White dominance, Newbury managed to get their hands on the ball and came back strong. On the 30-minute mark, Farnham had to empty their bench with backs Fin Anderson and Max Williams hobbling off as well as prop Dan Sweeney. Raoul Larkins came on for his 1st XV debut along with Jack Bemelmans and Harry West. A backline reshuffle saw loose forward Oscar Henderson joining the backs at centre.
Newbury opened their account after a few close carries drew the Farnham defence in and a long pass found the Newbury winger to dive into the corner. Conversion missed 28-5.
Almost immediately thereafter, a scrum on the Newbury 22 gave Farnham good attacking position with Ollie Brown using the presence of Henderson to dent Newbury’s midfield defence before offloading to Harry West who scampered under the posts for his first score of the season. Conversion good with the score 35-5 at half time.
Farnham now had the wind behind them and looked to continue this dominate performance. They had to be a bit more patient as Newbury fought valiantly. However, the scoreboard resumed when Ollie Brown pounced on a Newbury handling error and the ball was moved wide to Toby Simmons to dive into the corner. Conversion successful 42-5.
Newbury were next to score when a Farnham scrum was turned over and their replacement winger broke two tackles to break down the left and finish well in the corner. Conversion missed 42-10. With 20 minutes to go, Toby Salmon had to be replaced with a back injury and moments later Nathan Phillimore suffered a bad leg injury when trying to score a try and was carried off.
Play resumed after a lengthy delay with Farnham continuing to dominate. The next score came when Ben Jones fizzed a miss pass to the speedy Toby Simmons who beat his opposite man and scored his second try. Ben Jones took over the kicking and converted to make it 49-10.
Despite all the injuries, loose forwards Marcus Lambert-Parsons and Fin Basil had plenty of energy and were resilient in defence. Oscar Henderson was enjoying himself in the backs and another strong carry provided a good platform for Ben Jones to get in behind and find prop Marco Azevedo lurking on the wing to score in the corner. Conversion successful 56-10.
Newbury were reduced to 14 men with a high tackle on Oscar Henderson. More slick attacking phases by Farnham created space on the left wing for makeshift centres Chris Ratcliffe and Oscar Henderson who ran in under the posts. 63-10. The final score came in the closing minutes with Raoul Larkins finding Oscar Henderson who broke through a tackle before finishing off well in the corner for his hattrick. Conversion missed but the full-time score 68-10.
A good number of young players performed well to set up this dominant Farnham display. Hopefully the Christmas break with give time for the injured to recover and the side will be in good fettle to face the challenge of the season when on 6th January they visit run away league leaders Jersey.
President’s Podium selected by the players: 3- Oscar Henderson, 2- Ollie Brown, 1- Nathan Phillimore
Farnham welcomed Newbury to Monkton Lane for the last game before the Christmas break. Farnham handed a debut to young hooker Chris Ratcliffe who was back from University and the team was bolstered with injury returnees skipper Toby Salmon and defence powerhouse Josh Watson.
Farnham kicked off into a cool breeze and maintained their usual home “fast start”. An early penalty gave them a chance to kick to the corner and with the rolling maul held short, the powerful, in form Harrison Horner powered over from close range. Conversion successful and 7-0 within the first 2 minutes.
The Newbury squad was plagued with injuries and so this team saw a number of players out of position. Nevertheless, they had come to play with their good brand of rugby.
Farnham’s Max Williams was a handful in attack as usual and his break got Farnham close to the line. The ball was recycled with Fin Basil running a great line to go in under the posts. Conversion successful 14-0.
Farnham were full of confidence, claimed the kick off and chose to run the ball out. Toby Simmons started the move before offloading to Fin Anderson who drew the last man. He found debutant Chris Ratcliff on his shoulder to score his first 1st XV try. Conversion successful 21-0. Fin Anderson was involved in the next try when his audacious offload somehow found Max Williams who broke through the Newbury defence. He offloaded to Toby Salmon who sprinted under the posts. Conversion successful with the league bonus point secured in the first 15 minutes 28-0.
Despite the Black and White dominance, Newbury managed to get their hands on the ball and came back strong. On the 30-minute mark, Farnham had to empty their bench with backs Fin Anderson and Max Williams hobbling off as well as prop Dan Sweeney. Raoul Larkins came on for his 1st XV debut along with Jack Bemelmans and Harry West. A backline reshuffle saw loose forward Oscar Henderson joining the backs at centre.
Newbury opened their account after a few close carries drew the Farnham defence in and a long pass found the Newbury winger to dive into the corner. Conversion missed 28-5.
Almost immediately thereafter, a scrum on the Newbury 22 gave Farnham good attacking position with Ollie Brown using the presence of Henderson to dent Newbury’s midfield defence before offloading to Harry West who scampered under the posts for his first score of the season. Conversion good with the score 35-5 at half time.
Farnham now had the wind behind them and looked to continue this dominate performance. They had to be a bit more patient as Newbury fought valiantly. However, the scoreboard resumed when Ollie Brown pounced on a Newbury handling error and the ball was moved wide to Toby Simmons to dive into the corner. Conversion successful 42-5.
Newbury were next to score when a Farnham scrum was turned over and their replacement winger broke two tackles to break down the left and finish well in the corner. Conversion missed 42-10. With 20 minutes to go, Toby Salmon had to be replaced with a back injury and moments later Nathan Phillimore suffered a bad leg injury when trying to score a try and was carried off.
Play resumed after a lengthy delay with Farnham continuing to dominate. The next score came when Ben Jones fizzed a miss pass to the speedy Toby Simmons who beat his opposite man and scored his second try. Ben Jones took over the kicking and converted to make it 49-10.
Despite all the injuries, loose forwards Marcus Lambert-Parsons and Fin Basil had plenty of energy and were resilient in defence. Oscar Henderson was enjoying himself in the backs and another strong carry provided a good platform for Ben Jones to get in behind and find prop Marco Azevedo lurking on the wing to score in the corner. Conversion successful 56-10.
Newbury were reduced to 14 men with a high tackle on Oscar Henderson. More slick attacking phases by Farnham created space on the left wing for makeshift centres Chris Ratcliffe and Oscar Henderson who ran in under the posts. 63-10. The final score came in the closing minutes with Raoul Larkins finding Oscar Henderson who broke through a tackle before finishing off well in the corner for his hattrick. Conversion missed but the full-time score 68-10.
A good number of young players performed well to set up this dominant Farnham display. Hopefully the Christmas break with give time for the injured to recover and the side will be in good fettle to face the challenge of the season when on 6th January they visit run away league leaders Jersey.
President’s Podium selected by the players: 3- Oscar Henderson, 2- Ollie Brown, 1- Nathan Phillimore
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