Our second Farnham squad of the day had an early start to make the trip to Isle of White. After a short coach trip, ferry crossing, coach trip combo the Farnham lads arrived with an hour to spare before kick off.

The weather was good to us on the day however it was clear this was unusual as the pitch was heavy, grassless and torn up.
After some clever negotiation by the Vectis coach we were awarded the main pitch with a strong home crowd. Nothing our travelling supports couldn’t match!

The game started off strongly with each team attacking with purpose and testing their opponents defence. After only 5 minutes, the travelling Farnham side suffered their first casualty. Strong run through the center, valiant attempt to tackle however Nathan’s arm took the hit which dislocated his shoulder, ending the game for Nathan.
Some skilled first aiding and a few screams later the shoulder was back in place, ambulance cancelled and Nathan cheering us on. Jimmy joins the game.

After the disruption it took us a few minutes to regroup and Vectis took advantage, one try down and an excellent conversion from their kicker who proved to be accurate all day.
Not to be outdone, the farnham boys fought back. Outstanding tackling by Ben W, Reef M and the ever disrupting Henry M.
Space was found and Ollie LG dropped I for the first of his 3 tries, this one converted by the boot of Zach.
The next spell of play Farnham took the intitive but not the points. Massive hit on their bearded prop from Ben W, awesome clear out from Henry M followed by another Ben W hit that he managed to get to his feet and pinch the ball. Henry T took the ball gracefully in the air and stepped the defence, all great work but without reward.
A lapse of concentration, a try in the corner and we ended the second half 2 tries to 1 down.

The second half didn’t start well, our line out wasn’t working, tackles were missed, balls were thrown recklessly, tries were conceded - 3 in all and the day seemed lost at 4 - 1 and Vectis knew it.
The mistake they made was a late, off the ball hit on Henry T. Step up a great group of mates rallying round the fallen, Henry got up, shook himself down and got back in the game barely noticing the circle of protection created by his team mates #greatlads.
The game was on, our passion was back and we fought back.
Hit after hit, ruck after ruck we clawed our way back into the game - it was far too frantic to be written down - one more try from Vectis and 3 from us ended the game 5 - 4. Paul punctured defence, Morten danced round the tackle, James G nailed the winger, Zack and Ben linked well, Orsino battled on with a knee injury - a valiant fight at the end but the lack of concentration did us in. All shook hands at the end and made amends. Man Of the match Ben W for tackiling everything, Hard hat joint prize - Henry T for getting up from a tough tackle without missing a stride and Nathan for the side line A&E, try machine - Ollie LG. Great day out, lesssons to learn - concentration, get stuck in, work on the line out ball