Farnham U13 B's vs Reigate Pilgrims U13 B's

On a wonderful sunny January morning in Farnham, the U13 B’s faced Reigate Pilgrims B’s for their second league fixture of the season. Playing the first half into the strong sunshine on the very heavy muddy first team pitch the task was going to be difficult

Farnham were off to a quick start pressing Reigate straight from the kickoff. The initial 10 minutes were played predominantly in the Reigate half with strong Farnham forward play forcing Reigate onto the back foot. The Farnham scrummage quickly asserted its dominance which they were to maintain throughout the match. Farnham worked through phases of rucking and back play stretching the Reigate defence maintaining their focus with very difficult conditions underfoot. When handling errors eventually occurred they tackled hard and worked doggedly to win back possession. As the pressure mounted William Mylchreest supported by the forwards finally broke the Reigate defensive line to open the scoring for Farnham

This spurred Reigate into an immediate response and following the restart Reigate pressed forward. The Farnham defence held solid for the next five minutes with some strong tackling and aggressive forward play, but Farnham still struggled to get out of their own 22. Following a Reigate scrummage the ball moved quickly down their line to the very powerful Reigate winger who burst through the Farnham defence to level the scores

Farnham once again tried to press forward, but in the 25th minutes got caught by a moment of brilliance from the same Reigate winger. He received a missed pass just short of half way and preceded to power his way through a number of missed Farnham tackles to finally out pace the defence and score his second try next to the Farnham posts

Half Time: Farnham 5 Reigate Pilgrims 12

The second half started much the same as the first with Farnham straight out on the front foot. Farnham pressed Reigate continually through the first 10 minutes getting closer and closer to the try line. They were just missing the final killer pass. After 10 minutes their persistence finally paid off and the breakthrough came. Cameron Bellenger drove over the Reigate line with the support of his pack finally emerging from under a pile of bodies to receive the congratulations of his team mates. The kick was narrowly missed leaving Farnham still 2 point adrift

Following the restart Farnham were immediately back on the attack playing with a great energy. Again and again they attacked the Reigate line finally being rewarded with a try by Barnaby Swift in the corner. Being just 3 points clear with 15 minutes to go it was important that Farnham did not ease off and let Reigate back into the game. The solid platform offered by the excellent Farnham scrum allowed Farnham to keep dominating and controlling possession. One notable crunching tackle from Hari Tote epitomised the effort and commitment of the Farnham team

As the game entered the final 8 minutes a rushed Reigate defensive kick was caught by Ewan McLeod. He drove forward through the Reigate defence to within 5 metres of the try line quickly supported by the Farnham pack. The ensuing quick ball from the ruck and the fast distribution down the backline saw Jake Dobinson score a great try in the corner to complete the Farnham victory

Final Score: Farnham 20 Reigate Pilgrims 12

A great game of Rugby from two very well schooled sides. An excellent performance by the whole squad...