Farnham Mixed Squad fight for honours at Scottish!

With the sun shining down, today promised great conditions for the test against an athletic London Scottish side who twenty minutes before the game were struggling for numbers. This was resolved as they eventually summoned 17 players.

Just before kick off a strong wind started to blow which continued sporadically throughout the game giving spells of sunshine followed by storm clouds.

Farnham started with the wind in their faces and competed well in the first breakdowns.
It would prove to be a physical game with the first victim of this being Tom Quick who was rested after 8 minutes following a knock to the back of the head. Some quick thinking from the expansive coaching squad switched the ever reliable George Fletcher into 10 and replaced him at 15 with the hard running Elliot Davies.
This switch did little to slow the Farnham progress as Ben Conway broke through and evaded several tackles to score close to the touch line on 12 minutes. Tricky winds denied Fletcher the extras and we were off to a good start.

This strong Farnham start gave the London Scottish boys some renewed passion which led to a sustained attack on the Farnham try line which was repelled time and again. Eventually a knock on by the opposition gave temporary relief.

It took until the 18th minute for London Scottish to score - a strong run but our tacking could and should have saved the day. Penalty missed it was 5 all.
It only took a few more minutes for the opposition to score again and this time the extras added - coaching staff and captain alike were calling for the Farnham tackles to go low.

Half time called with the score 5 - 12.

After some rallying calls at half time from captain Charlie Wickens the second half started well. Good attacking play from Farnham but errors crept in and one or two overlaps were missed which could have changed the outcome.

Injuries to Elliot Davies and Ben Conway forced us to swop some players around in new positions which created gaps in our defence that London Scottish used to their advantage.
Ever present Rory Hodges made hit after hit with Reef Mitchel and Jake Holden holding their own in attack and defense. London Scottish started to get the upper hand through their stronger runners and made another 3 tries before the game ended.

It was good to see all the Farnham boys being able to return to the pitch following their respective injuries and suitable assessments to return (good work Sue)
The game ended 29 - 5 to London Scottish (I think) who were a strong side against our rapidly developing B’s.

Good effort by all the Farnham boys who never gave in. Man of the match deservedly went to Rory Hodges for another great all round performance.

Improvement points were discussed by the boys after the game. Tackling, body position in the ruck, line speed and line out practice.

We go again next week!