Hornets Start New Season with Physical Win

This was the first game of the new season for the Hornets team. Several players had moved up to play for the 1st XV and some had also moved onto pastures new, so this was to be a test of the new blood and graduating academy players.

Kingston brought a squad to Wilkinson Way populated by a good number of first team players who normally reside in the Surrey 1 division; a league which the Farnham 1st XV themselves won a few seasons ago.

Early skirmishes saw the Farnham team carry the ball well in the forwards and then exploit space with the backline. Understandably at the start of the season, it was the final execution that let the team down and prevented the Hornets from scoring.

Credit must go to the Kingston side for frequently turning the Farnham attackers over, especially when a line break was made and the ball carrier became isolated. Certainly the Farnham team will be working on their support play at training, although the team fitness seemed fairly good.

Shortly before half time, good defence from the Farnham back line caused Kingston to spill the ball. Dave Hurley took advantage of this and sprinted through a gap to score under the posts, putting Farnham seven points up.

Kingston seemed to lack confidence in their back line, rarely passing the ball wide, and instead opting to punt the ball up field. The Farnham back three, made up of stalwart club captain Dave Hurley, experienced Mark Baines and academy graduate Tom O’Connor, were reliable and dangerous when returning on the counter attack. Later on, the additions of Ben Mahoney and Josh Curran also contributed in this area.

A general theme for the game continued throughout the second half, with Farnham fly-half Tom Martin pinning down the opposition in their 22, but Farnham struggling to win their set piece ball and retain possession so they could attack.

The back row players of Fran Meagher and Tom Foster frequently harassed the opposition ball carriers, bringing them swiftly to earth and then immediately going for the ball afterwards. However the referee occasionally deemed their play to be too physical and awarded penalties against them.

On another mission, deep into Kingston territory, a well worked lineout saw Dave Hurley (stepping in at scrum half for injured Chris Dury and Ben Brown) spin the ball out and a text book move from the training ground, saw Adam Hailstones scythe through the defence and score under the posts.

Tom Martin converted and Farnham went ahead 14-0 with 5 minutes left.

Finally there was a flourish in the tail for Kingston who managed to get behind the defence with a combination of a tap and go penalty and some good off-loading. The final score was 14-7 and Farnham can be proud to have beaten opposition of this calibre.

It bodes well for the upcoming season, and beyond, as Farnham continues to attract new senior players and develops talented young players from the academy system.

Written by Oli Richford