Ealing Trailfinders fire at today's friendly

At Farnham we believe that the way the game is played is more important than the result. As the saying goes, Rugby is a barbarian game played by Gentlemen but it often seems that many of the teams we come across don't entirely share our viewpoint.

Consequently it was a delight to welcome Ealing Trailfinders U14s to Fortress Farnham this morning to find that they shared our outlook and our values. Their squad was a little short on numbers but big of heart and we were lucky to be their hosts today.

The format for the morning was to be three short games to allow for the whole 40 man Farnham squad to get some game time against the 20 or so Ealing players.

The first match was for the A squad vs their top team, leaving the B squad to warm up on the pitch opposite. Farnham hit the ground running and despite a number of sizeable lads on the Ealing side the well drilled Farnham boys took up residence inside the Ealing 22 and applied the thumbscrews. First over the line was Louis Thomas after a well worked forwards move set him up for a great run to the line. Next on the scoresheet was Aston Ulisse who was ready to pounce on an unsuspecting Ealingite to score under the posts leaving the way for Finlay Anderson to take a nice conversion. 12-0 was a nice scoreline to take into the half time break. The Ealing team could have been forgiven if their heads had dropped a little but there was none of that. They started the second half like a team possessed and began to string together some nice breaks. If it hadn't been for some typically spirited tackling from the Farnham Boys, Ealing would have equalised. As it was their strategy was to keep the ball in hand whilst Farnham gave away some soft penalties and eventually they set up a great opportunity and took the score to 12-5 which was where the match ended.

The second match was to be a contest between the Farnham B squad and a team comprising most of the same Ealing boys less their top players. Once again the Farnham team were quick out of the blocks and just as in the first game, put in a dominant first 5 minutes. Toby Richards was at his combative best and wrestled his way down the right hand touch line for a beautifully worked score, even managing to get back under the posts to give Ben Atkins a fighting chance of the conversion. 7-0

Farnham's second try came courtesy of Mattie Hodson who put in a magnificent run to get over the whitewash. For the second time in the morning the score was Farnham 12, Ealing Nil going into half time.

And also for the second time, Ealing fought back in the second half. They must have had a second second wind and once again they began to string together some moves until eventually their big number 8 broke the line and blasted his way over the line to score under the posts. A simple conversion saw the score at 12-7 and that was where the second match ended.

By the time the third match started, the Ealing boys could easily have been forgiven if they had taken a back seat but they were having none of it. They fought like demons despite the fact that they must have been on their knees by this stage. However their fighting spirit couldn't keep Aston Ulisse from opening the afterburners and taking a second try of the morning. Next to the scoresheet was Tom Garner who boshed his way to the line majestically and then converted his own try for good measure.

Again the score was 12-0 but again ealing came back at the Farnham hordes. Their "never say die" spirit was incredible - a real lesson for the Farnham squad which they capped off with a fantastic score from their super quick winger to get back to 12-5.

Three great games, three similar results, three top fight backs by the Ealing squad. In the words of Monty Python's armless and legless Black Night - "Tis but a scratch"!