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Match report for Sat 10th Oct 2009 @ 14:00, 1st XV

Farnham came out worthy winners after a physical encounter at Aldermaston, who put in a gutsy comeback and showed some excellent hospitality.

Summary

Farnham came out worthy winners after a physical encounter at Aldermaston, who put in a gutsy comeback and showed some excellent hospitality. Two tries in the first 10 minutes put this game out of Aldermastons reach and if the Pennanians had been more clinical the score could have been much higher. Aldermaston however managed to come back at Farnham in the final 10 minutes with two tries of their own to make the final score 20-10 to Farnham.

First Half

Farnham received the kick off with a team largely unchanged from the one that ran out to beat Windsor the week before, only the front row, second row, back row, half backs and three quarters were changed. A proud moment for the Moffat family as father Alex and his two sons Jamie and Stuart lined up together in the pack. From the first kick off Pennanians showed their intent running the ball straight back at a very big Aldermaston pack. Almost immediately the quick pace of the Farnham game resulted in the first points of the game, after Dave Marsden ran through and past a number of Aldermaston players to score a try. Mark Beel was on hand to slot over the conversion, 0-7 to Pennanians. Straight back from the resulting kick off Farnham found themselves back in the Aldermaston half however pressure couldn’t be converted to points. Farnham got their second points of the game after moving the ball out wide and Jamie Moffat playing number 8 was on hand to support the wing play and brush aside the remaining Aldermaston defence to score in the corner. Mark Beel was again on hand to slot over the conversion, 0-14 to Farnham. The scoreline remained like this for the remainder of a frustrating half with Farnham lifting the pressure and too many players looking for glory instead of concentrating on the basics.

Second Half

At half time the Pennanians man of the match Duncan Fawcett had to come off due to injury and was replaced by Morris Ngaru – not a welcome sight to a rather weak Aldermaston backline. Farnham began well but soon put the half time team talk to the back of their minds and fell back into the traps of the first half; namely trying to punch round the fringes with little or no support play instead of using the quicker and more skilful wide men and moving the big Aldermaston pack around the park. However Pennanians did manage to get good field position and get a penalty, Mark Beel who was accurate with the boot all game stretched the lead to 0-17. With 15 minutes remaining, Pens were camped in the Aldermaston 22, after a strong run Dave Marsden was held up and in the tackle injured his ankle, we wish him a safe and speedy return. Ollie Bareham replaced Dave Marsden and slotted into the back row as Adam Barley moved to center. From the resulting scrum the ball was moved out to Adam Barley who crashed over to score, only to be brought back for a forward pass. Aldermaston then got two unanswered tries which were not converted as Pens went to sleep and nearly gave away their lead. Some calm build up play enabled Pens to get into Beel’s range and from a resulting penalty Beel secured the win with another 3 points to take the final score to 10-20.