Farnham U14Bs v Warlingham U14Bs

On a sunny morning in Esher, Farnham U14bs looked to cap off a great season by playing the Surrey Chairman's Bowl final against Warlingham. Having played Warlingham earlier in the domestic season, this was going to be a tough ask

Farnham started brightly and for the opening period of the match the game flowed evenly from end to end with Farnham playing their signature running rugby. But as the half progressed Warlingham started to exert pressure on a hard tackling Farnham defence driving them back deep into their own half. Farnham kept the tackles flying in with notable tackles from Cameron Bellenger, Jake Kimberley and William Mylchreest. Warlingham eventually moved the ball to the wing and attempted to score in the corner. Despite initially being rappelled on the line, the power of a much larger Warlingham pack managed to force their way across the line for the opening try

On the restart Farnham showed they were up for the game with a teriffic chase by the team forcing Warlingham to concede a scrum deep within their own 22. From the scrummage the Farnham attack caused Warlingham to concede a penaly 15metres from their own line. From the tap, the ball moved quickly to Theo Lees who broke through the initial Warlingham defensive line only to be stopped on the goal line by some last dich defence. Warlingham managed to turnover the ball and kick clear

The game by now was becoming very fast with flowing rugby from both side. Warlingham played a rolling maul well, but Farnham managed to force it into touch and then clear well from the subsequent lineout. The defensive kicking from Farnham was to be of high quality throughout the match, with long clearances by Samuel Johnston often turning defence into attack

The second Warlingham try was practically a carbon copy of the first. From a scrum in the Farnham 22 the no.8 picked up from the back of the scrum and broke down the blind side. He was stopped just short of the Farnham line and from the subsequent ruck the forwards managed to power over the Farnham line

There followed a bit of bad luck for Farnham. An offensive Warlingham kick managed to bounce away from the Farnham defence and straight to a Warlingham player who had a clear run to the posts. Despite having conceding 3 tries Farnham were not downhearted and continued to try and play attacking rugby. However, just as the half closed Warlingham managed to run in their final try of the half tight in the corner

HT Farnham 0 Warlingham 22

As the second half started Farnham looked like a rejuvenated team, taking advantage of the slight slope in their favour and a light breeze behind them

Warlingham started the half being pinned back . The excellence of the Farnham pack around the ruck forced Warlingham to concede a spate of penalties early on. From one of these rucks came a classy move from Farnham. The ball moved quickly out to Jake Kimberley on to Ben Seymour and finally out to Theo Lees with a great miss pass on Oliver Wingfield. Theo managed to drive through the defence and score Farnham's opening try in the corner

The game was however straight back down the other end with Warlingham scoring against the run of play. From a 22 scrummage the ran the ball in with a large overlap available

Despite this setback Farnham still had their tails up and were now playing some great rugby putting the Warlingham defence under immence pressure. The Farnham scrummage even managed to push back the much heaver Warlingham pack 5 metres winning the scrum against the head. The second Farnham try came soon after from a Farnham penalty 10m from the Warlingham line. From the tap, Jake Kimberley forced his way just short of the line. The ball came back to Nye Johnson who supported by an eager Farnham pack forced the ball over the line for a try. This was subsequently converted by Samuel Johnston. Farnham were playing well against a very good side.

Warlingham finished the game strongly scoring another try following some messy defence and rounding it off by running in the restart kick (last play of the game)

FT Farnham 12 Warlingham 39

A great game of rugby from two very good teams. Farnham kept going and showed a lot of spirit to fight back in the second half. All bodes well for the French tour next week and the new season to come as U15s

This weeks Podium Points awarded by Coach Alistair Mylchreest were as follows:

1 Point: Mattie Hodson - For great attacking running
2 Points: Lewis Pritchard - For a try saving tackle
3 Points: Samuel Johnston - For another great game, superb kicking and the most improved player of the season