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1st XV
Matches
Sat 27 Oct 2012  ·  Surrey 1
Farnham R.U.F.C.
1st XV
34
28
Old Tiffinians
Comley hat-trick seals Farnham’s top of the table position

Comley hat-trick seals Farnham’s top of the table position

Sue Keogh29 Oct 2012 - 19:21

Farnham’s guests on Saturday in Monkton lane were Old Tiffinians, rivals for the top spot in this year’s Surrey Division 1 championship.

At the start of the day both teams were unbeaten this year with Farnham holding a 2 point lead due to bonus points. The match was always going to be close and league leadership would go to the winners.
A large crowd had gathered prior to the game as over a hundred met for a President’s lunch, many of the club’s mini and junior coaching teams sat down with guests for the pre-match lunch and stayed to support the team for the afternoon.
The game began at a great pace and within the first few minutes Farnham conceded a penalty after a knock on from Yeoman. Old Tiffs took an easy kick and a 3-0 lead. This only lasted a few minutes and Old Tiffs repaid the compliment and gave Rubio the chance to level the game at 3 all. It took Farnham 10 minutes to gain territory and from a 15m scrum they span wide for skipper Comley to avoid four tackles to score in the corner. The following conversion was missed as Rubio slipped during contact. The opposition came straight back and took another penalty 35m out as Farnham held the ball in the loose. Rubio kicked another penalty to make the score 11-6 just past the half way mark. Old Tiffs then scored a lovely try under the post that was dually converted and the lead see-sawed back to Tiffs.
The pack performed very well in a largely unchanged format with big drives from the front row and Chiverton and Bond picking up any loose balls. This was curtailed a bit as Bond was yellow carded for handling on the ground a bit too much. A good drive saw the ball spun wide to full back Hurley who fed Comley for his second and putting Farnham back in the lead 16-13. The half was almost over when winger Meagher took a yellow card for punching and was sent to the bin.
The second half saw Farnham kick off with a narrow lead of 3 points, and straight away had to defend their line from an onslaught from Old Tiffs. The ball was finally cleared by stand- off Penn, who was kicking well from hand. The first of a few injuries then saw Bond carried off with a knee injury being replaced by Trodden on the flank. From a high kicked clearance full back Hurley caught the ball and ran straight eventually feeding Comley via Corlett
who scored another try in style in the right corner, leaving Farnham to lead by 21-13. Further play saw Farnham again move up the pitch with Penn and Daly calling the shots, It was then the turn of Chas Penn to pick the ball up from a lost forward from Old Tiffs and promptly ran 45 metres for a fine solo effort. Penn missed the conversion and Farnham led by 26-13. This saw the experienced Lewis who came on for an injured Corlett, taking Corlett’s lead by putting in a few huge tackles. Tiffs then were awarded a penalty in front of the post and decided to take the points with a good kick taking their total to 16 and clawing back some of the deficit.
The game had become very open for a spell and both teams battled back and forwards before Tiffs broke down the left and the winger was just prevented from scoring by two tackles that the referee deemed to be high and dangerous, a penalty try was given and seven points taken to bring the score within 3 points. A long range penalty from Rubio took back 3 and put Farnham in a six point lead. Farnham kept up the pressure with some great bursts from Daly who ran 30 metres with the ball before putting a fantastic cross kick to Comley on the left wing who was only just kept out. The forwards then attacked the Tiffs line and the ball eventually popped to Daly who had a metre to drop over the line to make it 34-23. The game seemed won and Phillips came on for the last 10 minutes for Chiverton and Meagher came back on for Chas Penn.
Old Tiffs beaten but not down then had a serious spell of pressure on the Farnham line, that the forwards held them back, a certain try stopped by a knock on. Farnham then conceded a penalty and Tiffs decided to run the ball wide for a final good try in the corner and bringing the score within the seven for a well-earned bonus point. Chris Penn finally kicked to touch and the whistle ended the game 34-28 in favour of Farnham.
This leaves Farnham top of the table by 5 points with Croydon the next opponents on Saturday 3rd of November, a 14.15 kick off now the clocks have changed. This will be followed in the evening by the Club’s fireworks event.

Match details

Match date

Sat 27 Oct 2012

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Surrey 1
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Principal Partner - Saltus
Club Partner - Natta
Shirt Sponsor - Specific Interiors
Sponsor - Savills