Farnham Shine - Despite the Shower

For our first league fixture of the season, Farnham U16 faced a resurgent Haslemere. The game was played in atrocious conditions throughout with heavy rain and strong gusts of wind. Not exactly conditions for running rugby but this Farnham team didn’t notice the weather and, in a storming first half performance, they swept aside all resistance from Haslemere.

From the first kick off – caught cleanly by No. 8 Jordan Frost with no mistake – Farnham took the initiative. The boys kept their structure as the forwards made powerful drives up the pitch, occasionally allowing the backs to test the opposition defence. After a few minutes the pressure told and through quick hands Jordan Greener was in for the first of his three tries on the left wing. Three conversions from outside centre Matt Carrington gave Farnham a 21 nil lead, which they never looked like relinquishing.

Matt Carrington added to his kicking score with a typically determined run through several tackles as Farnham took the game beyond all doubt. In open play near the Haslemere line, the Haslemere openside flanker fly hacked the ball on the volley landing in George Northwood’s safe hands. Chasing his own kick, George had a near full length of pitch run and was rewarded with a try as the opposition fumbled on their line and he snatched the ball to score against the post. The half time score was 33 – 0

Service resumed in the second half with another try for Matt Carrington. Sadly the conversion was missed which left Farnham hovering on 38 – 0 just 2 points away from a victory to nil. An inexplicable drop in concentration showed that Haslemere could still be dangerous opponents as they pounced with their skipper going over for a well worked try.

Stung into action, Farnham responded quickly with a hat trick of his own from man of the match Alistair Williams playing at 10 to close out the game – the last a fantastic team try that he deservedly finished off.

Full time score: Farnham 55 – 7 Haslemere

Some of the gloss was taken off the victory by the injury to Cameron Beach (centre) who handled himself heroically as the medical team did their job. We all wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back.

We should all also thank Claire Willett for her assistance for all the players picking up injuries. As James has said – we would not have coped without her.

Positives from this game: Despite coming up against a committed and potentially destructive Haslemere team, and playing them in such poor conditions, the errors were few, the team work was excellent and the boys showed that as a team, they are vastly more than the sum of its parts. We have always had players who showed individual brilliance but seeing them working together as a team was a real pleasure. That all of the tries were scored by the backs in those conditions – says everything. The forwards as a unit were simply excellent – without the platform their hard work delivered, the result would have been completely different.

A quick mention for debutants for the league William Ackroyd and Matthew Jones - both put in excellent performances and the returning Hal Jupp. Charlie Fox also deserves a mention in dispatches as his crashing runs up the middle did so much damage and Freddy Tully the same. There are too many to mention them all but congratulations to every player – you did yourselves and your team proud.

MoM: Alistair Williams – for an excellent all round display

Tries: Jordan Greener 3, Alistair Williams 3, Matthew Carrington 2, George Northwood 1
Conversions: Matt Carrington 5

Team: William Ackroyd, Dan Willett, Jevan Watson, Freddy Tully, Luke Convery, Toby Fairhead, Hal Jupp, Jordan Frost (c), Josh Swinney, Alistair Williams, Charlie Fox, Matthew Carrington, Alex Chalker, Jordan Greener, George Northwood
Replacements: Shaun Kemp, George Bolt, Matt Jones, Felix Old, Cameron Beach, David Tyler, Ben Turnbull