U13As grind out another win to make it 4 from 4 in the Surrey premier League

Have you ever had one of those days when everything went your way? When you got out of bed full of the joys of spring with the sun shining, when you got into your car to find it mercifully free of bird poop and then found every traffic light was green when you got to it?
Well for the U13s, this morning was almost exactly not like that at all.

The Chobham car park was already full when parents arrived so it was every man for himself in the overflow car park. The ground was predictably sodden which meant a muddy trip to the clubhouse in School shoes to get changed. To a man the U13s all seemed to be asleep on arrival and even Dominic's dulcet tones couldn't shake them awake during the warm up. Chobham are and have always been a Bogey team for the Farnham boys. Even though they have not had much success in the league so far, Chobham U13s are disruptive and scrap for the ball, never giving up in the process and today was to be no different. They are a well coached quality side with quality players

The assembled Farnham crowd to a man or woman wondered whether today was going to be the day of the "First Defeat". The day when the trip back to Farnham would be completed in silence. Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, one point's all you get for a loss when we go home...

The start of the game was predictably scrappy. Tackles were missed, penalties were gifted, ground was conceded. Kicks were missed. Chobham were playing their game to their rules on their pitch and, credit must go to them and their coaches as they stuck to their strengths and the Farnham boys failed to gain any real control over proceedings.

After 15 minutes of back and forth, eventually Farnham managed to create a platform, defending again as they were deep in their own half, and suddenly a handful of passes went to hand delivering the ball to Aston Ulisse who deftly sidestepped and hitch kicked around the Chobham back line to pop down a try under the posts. Although this was against the run of play, suddenly things began to look up and after Ben Cregeen hit a superb conversion, Farnham found themselves 7-0 up.

6 minutes later, after another series of back and forwards plays in which neither side made much of an impression on the other, Aston Ulisse made another superb run down the left touchline for a second score. Things were looking up and at 12-0 maybe the day would end up well after all!

A knock on at the restart gifted Chobham the possession and the big Chobham forwards scrummaged and rucked their way superbly towards the Farnham line with purpose. They weren't going down without a fight and sure enough, 24 minutes into the first half, Chobham scored an unconverted try. When the whistle blew at 12-5 to Farnham it was a relief! Given the way our boys were playing, it seemed like a good result. Possession in the first half had been quite even, maybe a little more in favour of the visiting team but perhaps as much as 80% of the territory so far had been in the home side's favour.

Despite a tough team talk at half time, the second half started in much the same vein as the first ended. Farnham had the sight advantage of playing a little downhill but much of the possession and the territory went to Chobham who all looked as if they wanted the game more than the Farnham boys did. Once again though, even without their usually secure attacking platform, 10 minutes into the second half Max Campbell-Harris was passed the ball from the base of a ruck and handed off three Chobham tacklers to get to the corner to bring the scoreline to a respectable if slightly flattering 17-5. A try-line conversion was always a big ask, despite the strong boot of Ben Cregeen, and so 17-5 was where it stayed.

The game wasn't over as far as the feisty Chobham boys were concerned though... 5 minutes scrapping later, Chobham spun the ball out to their winger who popped the ball down near the posts and a conversion brought the scoreline back to 17-12; uncomfortably close for the Farnham boys with 10 minutes left to play of the second half.

The final 10 minutes was a tense affair with both sides feeling the burn after playing 40 minutes intense rugby on a wide and claggy pitch. Ben Atkins, Louis Thomas and Aston Plisse all made potentially try saving tackles in this period and the score finished at 17-12.

During a tough team talk at the end of the match, top coach Dominic Parker told the boys that it was the mark of a great team that they managed to grind out a win despite having a bad day in the office. No-one could argue against that. Special congratulations also went to the boys who stepped up to the plate to put in a shift. Max Parker, Hamish Hudson and Max Foskett all put in a sterling performances to deliver a win for the team against a Chobham side who should be congratulated for playing the better rugby on the day. Fortunately, in the league, a good win and a bad win get the same points score. No bonus point for Farnham today but a losing bonus point for Chobham was very well deserved.

Next game is at home against Effingham - in the meantime it is definitely back to the training pitch.