U14s A squad stay strong and narrowly miss the Win!

Pre game consensus . . . this was going to be a challenging day on the park. Warlingham are a gritty team and the weather rolled in to set the scene with strong gusts, drizzle, sun, more rain and a soft, large 1st XV pitch underfoot. Lady Luck rocked up shortly before kick off with Paddy succumbing to a bug and Sam C injuring his shoulder in the warm up. Both big losses to the squad, meaning a last minute shift of the team sheet and players playing out of position to accommodate.

You could have forgiven the guys starting the game feeling well and truly on the back foot but that team didn’t show up. Instead the As burst out of the changing room with tails up and they stayed that way until the final whistle. Without doubt one of the best games of the season so far, and a gripper to watch.

Warlingham were on the push from the get go and a ball out wide led to a sprint from their winger which was brought to an early end by a tap tackle from Fynn B deep in our half. Farnham steadied themselves and shoved back hard to create a line out opportunity close to the Warlingham try line which Benjy B took over for the first score of the game. 5/0 Farnham.

Moments after the restart, Warlingham made the most of a spilled ball in our half to score but failed to convert. 5/5. 10 mins and two scores already, the crowd gathering on the balcony got a sense of the game ahead and the ensuing support was a big boost to the team!

James R went on a gruelling run from the wrong side of the halfway line, brought down by a tackle he was on his feet just as quick, bounced off a couple more tackles to dot down under the posts and set Rufus up for a vital conversion. The gusts made for a challenging day for the kickers, even under the posts but Rufus slotted the ball calmly. 12/5.

End to end stuff and another foray deep into our half from Warlingham. Penalty Farnham and a superb kick to touch but Warlingham worked the wing to come back and go over in the corner shortly before HT. No conversion and the half ended 12/10.

The second half started with a long stretch with our backs against the wall but the boys defended brilliantly, hard tackles from each player, turning over rucks and generally disrupting the Warlingham game at every opportunity. The resulting frustration from the opposition both on the pitch and the touch line was evident. Farnham kept fighting back, until a blistering line from Billy put the ball wide, a great pass from Eddie B to Nathan who paced it in for our third try of the day. 17/10.

Back in our half from the restart and more of the same with the boys grinding out an impenetrable defence against strong and increasingly more frustrated attack from Warlingham.

James R in the headlines again, this time when he stopped an oppo boot with his nose and very reluctantly left the field, vowing to return. No subs on the bench now but the team kept edging Warlingham back up the field.

Eventually, just before FT we got caught napping with a wing exposed and Warlingham broke through to run one in under the posts, conversion made to even up at 17pts a piece.

Restart and the team were up and at it, still going for the win but a panicked Warlingham finally managed to kick the ball out to seal the draw.

Epic efforts all round, a true team performance. Everyone made their tackles, consistently. Happy lads, happy parents, happy coaches and a sense that the effort to get the guys familiar with multiple roles around the pitch really paid off today.