Local Rivalries

Farnham 25 Camberley 15

A warm sunny day for our first home league match greeted the ‘A’ team as they arrived for their pre-match session and all of them appeared eager for the start as they prepared for the game.

Farnham kicked off first and not judging the wind enough saw the ball drift over the dead ball line which Camberley took advantage of and opted for the scrum re-start on the half way mark.

Camberley with some very determined rucking and mauling maintained possession for the next 10 minutes launching their back line again and again that pinned Farnham by in to in their own half.

The visitors were only held back by some great defensive work with Sam marsh and Tom Hammond making some great tackles. This all finally paid off as the ball was turned over and Max Guibeleguiet launch a kick from his 22 and gave the home team some much needed breathing room. After seeing this tactic work so well it was then repeated by Jonty Pendleton who fired a kick deep in to Camberley’s half and followed it up to tackle the receiver securing Farnham possession.

Farnham were starting to get in to their stride and with the forwards recycling ball from the rucks they pushed Camberley back in to their 22 . Some great handling skills by the backs allowed Louis Kirkham to burst through in to the left hand corner and score the home team’s first try. Camberley came back hard and managed to find some open space on the right side of the pitch that saw one of their backs break free and score in the right hand side of the pitch to level the score.

This time the Farnham restart saw Camberley drive the ball back in to Farnham’s half, however the combined efforts of all the forwards who continuously harried their opponents resulted in them reclaiming the ball . As the forwards took the ball on, driving in to the opposition ,Callum Jones broke from the back of a breakdown and linked with Louie Kirkham who cut deep in to Camberley’s territory only to be stopped by a high tackle that saw a lengthy stoppage of time. Once Louie was deemed fit to play the restart saw the forwards surge in to their opponents 22 .The continuous hard work by the pack rucking at the break down led to McKenzie McCann taking the ball and beating 3 defenders to almost reached the try line but with a fantastic off load he released Rohan Malhotra who ,coming in fast off the wing in support scored our second (and very well deserved) try . The half time whistle blew and Farnham went in to a huddle 10 points to 5 up .

Camberley restarted the match and with a couple of errors by the home team Camberley attacked with a lot of determination eventually being rewarded with a try to level the match at 10 points each . this revitalised the Farnham team who threw everything at Camberley and in quick succession Sam Hibbard smash through the Camberley forwards and released out Louie Kirkham to record his second try and restored Farnham’s lead to the match . Still on the attack a well worked ball saw the Farnhan forwards drive deep in to the left hand corner of the opposition. Here Camberley defended exceptionally well denying Farnham time and again but all the pressure paid off as the forwards again took the ball in to Camberley’s 22’.Here the defenders were draw in to the maul and once the ball was released out to the backs Louie Kirkham completed his hat trick by dashing over the line. The score was now 20 points to ten but the team were still pressing for more and with a great darting run by Laurence Lee who broke through the opposition he scored their 5th and final try taking the game beyond the visitors . Farnham continued to enjoy a lot more possession and laid siege to Camberley’s line but handling errors and the opposition holding Rohan up over the line, all construed to deny them another try,. Finally Camberley against the run of play managed to work one of their backs in to some open space on their right hand side of the field and showing a clean pair of heels he sprinted clear to score Camberley’s third and final try . There was a few more minutes of play left that saw possession of the ball change hands a few times but neither team could break through their opponents defences and the game finished 25 points to 15 . Some special mention has to go to Khi Samuels who tackled and closed down time and again the Camberley back line as they looked for openings and worked tirelessly in attack, helping to create gaps for other players to exploit.

A great result for the team . well played to all of them .

Team.

Jack Bemelmans
Oban Baird
Ethan Leitch
Henry Wormwell
Laurence Lee
Alex Hoskins
Callum Jones
Max Guibeleguiet
Tom Hammond
Louis Kirkham
Sam Hibberd
Sam Marsh
Jonty Pendleton

Substitutes
Khi Samuels
Rohan Malhotra
Mackenzie McCann
Fergus Van Der Flier