Farnham 2s 42 - 10 Chobham Development XV

So with the Christmas cheer well and truly over it was time to get back to playing some rugby. In an evenly contested opening, both sides looked to run the ball at every opportunity. Farnham however were guilty of putting width on the ball too early and this allowed Chobham to easily defend. Not to be outdone though, the Farnham defence was also a match for the visitors attack.

Despite this being a so called friendly fixture, both sides were fully committed and both suffered their fair share of injuries. The worst of which happened to Farnham’s Dan Green who unfortunately left the pitch and made his way to Frimley hospital where doctors found a spiral fracture and shunted bone in his foot. With an operation likely we all wish Dan a speedy recovery.

It took nearly half an hour for the first points to be scored and it was Farnham that took the lead. Keeping the ball tight, and gaining momentum through the fringes, James Franklin broke clear to power over from close range. Andy James added the conversion. Within minutes Farnham extended their lead when the forwards won a scrum against the head in the opposition 22m. The ball was quickly moved away and Toby Comley attacked the line and offloaded to the supporting James to run in under the posts, with the conversion added the score stood at 14-0 with half time fast approaching.

But there was still enough time for Chobham to claim a reply with the Hornets defence switching off expecting the whistle. With quick clean ball the outside centre scythed through midfield and evaded the cover defence to cross out wide, the conversion missed the half time score was 14-5.

With both sides making a raft of changes at half time, the hope was that Farnham could push on in the second half. And so it proved with Farnham showing great composure to play through the phases. Drawing the defence in tight before spreading the ball wide Farnham ran in four unanswered tries. With scores for Chiverton, Corlett, Comley and Peacock, and with all converted, Farnham completed a second half rout of the opposition to lead 42-5 with time running out.

But credit to Chobham, they battled on till the end and deservedly got the last score of the game when the ball was spread wide and kicked through and the Chobham winger won the race to ground the ball over the line. The missed conversion was met with the referees whistle and a final score of 42-10.

With a game under their belt, Farnham will look to put in some hard work at training this week ahead of next weekends league fixture away at Old Wellingtonians.