U16As lose to Reeds Weybridge on Waterfall cup finals day

U16s Head coach, Dominic Parker, was keen to point out that Finals Days are always a stressful time and Sunday’s Quins cup final day at Dorking RFC was to prove no exception. By way of a brief reminder, the U16As had earned their place in the 3rd/4th playoff with victories over Dorking and Chipstead, losing only in the semi-final to an in-form team from Wimbledon Warriors.

So, the battle to be the 3rd best team in Surrey was to be fought by Farnham and Reeds Weybridge and an epic battle it turned out to be. Farnham were first to the scoresheet with a superb 3 pointer from kicking machine 10 Finlay Anderson but Reeds soon came back with a great unconverted try up the hill on Dorking’s gravitationally challenging pitch 3. Finlay took another 3-point penalty just before half time to go into the dressing room 6-5 up but a 1-point cushion looked thin against a fit Reeds side who would have the benefit of the slope in the second half.

Reeds came out of the blocks fast in the second half keen to make their mark. Three tries followed to put them up 6-27 but the Farnham boys kept their heads together. A couple of disciplinary lapses saw two yellow cards for the Reeds team and this resulted in some defensive gaps which the Farnham boys were able to exploit. It seemed inevitable that eventually a Farnham try would come after a series of strong phases and indeed it did. Who else would put the ball down over the line – Well it had to be the scorer of all of the team’s points today, Fin Anderson!

Finlay was an obvious choice for a place on the podium, given his astonishing kicking prowess and the fact that he scored all of the team’s points on the board today. The other two places went to Chris Ratcliffe for a captain’s innings, leading from the front for all 80 minutes, and to Surrey second row Max Parker whose workrate behind the scenes delivered a platform from which all the boys could deliver.

So a tough day for the boys but they left the field of play to the presentation of the 4th place trophy with heads held high. Onwards to the Quins Finals day next weekend!