Rachel Gold clearly enjoyed scoring her hattrick try in the Falcon's game against Crowthorne. See below for match report.
The come back kids!
Farnham U23, The Vandals. Back Row: Ollie Male, Ed, Ben Ryan, Toby Richards, Ollie Wingfield, Max Deverne, Ed Robinson (c), Johnny Redford, Ollie Kirkpatrick, Elliott Catermull, Jack Pearson, Dom Parker (Coach). Font Row: Max Foskett, Will Mylchreest, Ben Atkins, Chris Ratcliffe, Angus Murray, Max Parker, Adam Widlake.
Making the most of youngsters returning from university (some from as far afield as Spain and USA) for the holidays, the club fielded an U23 team – which dubbed itself the “Farnham Vandals” – in fixtures against Old Reedonians at Weybridge (squad pictured above) and a Presidents XV at home. A loss of concentration at the start of the second half allowed Old Reedonians to score four tries in ten minutes and go on to win the encounter 15-31.
The game against the President’s XV was the finale to a club day on 28th December at which all playing sections of the took the opportunity to run off some Christmas pudding. The President’s XV was a mix of current players, veterans and those who had not played for a while. In a thoroughly entertaining and hard-fought game, the pace, skills and enthusiasm of the Vandals prevailed over the wisdom and weight of the older, if not fitter, players – but not by much! Final score 34-36 to the Vandals.
A highlight of the match – of which there were many – was the referee – none other than Mike Hudson whose regular job is to referee Rugby Premiership matches. All players learned something from him as he managed an open and flowing game (much to the dismay of a number of the President's men.)
Dominic Parker, the key instigator behind the formation of the Vandals said, “The core of the current 1st XV including skipper Ollie Brown learnt their trade as Juniors at the club. The Vandals provides the link between the club and the many young players that inevitably move away to further their education or launch their careers. In due course, they’ll be back to bolster our senior squad full-time and, given the quality and commitment shown by the boys in both games, the club’s future looks bright.”
Jemi A-O tries to catch Tom Clark. He should have known better.
"Steppy Tom" was called up to the England U21 Touch side to tour RSA last year -
sadly the tour was a victim of the pandemic.
Farnham players - past, present and future.
The Vandals and the President's XV line up with referee Mike Hudson.
Meanwhile, there are some young players whose rugby career may well take them elsewhere. Here's our Academy player Tom Humphreys at Kingsholm where he played for Quins U17 Player Development Group in their 10-35 victory over their Gloucester counterparts this weekend.
This Saturday, it was the 2nd XV who represented the club in a league match at Monkton Lane against Dorking A. Given isolation absentees and others yet to return from holidays, the 2nd XV featured a number of 3rd and 4th team players – demonstrating the senior men's strength in depth. It took the first half for the team to gel, during which Dorking ran in their tries. However, the honours were even in the second half with a try apiece, Farnham’s scored from the base of the scrum by No8, Officer Cadet Mike Mitzi on leave from RMA Sandhurst. Final score 15-33.
Back Row: Coach Jacko, Mathilde Delfour, Ruth Hardy, Ella Wilson, Zoey Bowlder, Beki Hardman, Nicole Roberts, Lucy Fox, Jade McClune, Emma Mortimer, Sarah Coward, Steph Thompson
Front row: Eulalie Ghijselings, Courtney Trodd, Alice Smith, Amy Wadmore, Zoe Robinson, Karen Webb, Abigail Jackson.
Out front: Rachel Gold.
The club enjoyed winning ways on Sunday when the women’s 1st XV, the Falcons (pictured above), ran out winners 22-52 at Crowthorne RFC. This convincing league victory was sealed by tries from Ella Wilson (2), Beki Hardman and Zoe Robinson. Zoe also converted three of those tries including her own. Furthermore, Rachel Gold, one of the original group of women to form the Falcons, not only scored her first try for the club but then went on to score two more to complete the hattrick. Courtney Trodd contributed to the healthy score with three conversions.
Also on Sunday, the U16A's came back from 7-0 down at half time to record a very satisfying 7-29 win at Horsham. The U15s took two squads to Marlow with different outcomes. The As came unstuck 38/7 to arguably the strongest squad we’ve encountered in this age group. The Bs stormed to a 55/5 win over their counterparts with a composite display of blitz defence and great handling.
Emma Mortimer and Beki Hardman put in a double tackle to halt the Crowthorne attack.
Watch the games at the club.
Mark your diaries! Here are the times of the games that (staying as we are) will be shown next month on the big screens at the club. Please be sensible about testing etc before coming down. While at this time there are no plans - or regulations - to do so, we may ask to show COVID passports, so make sure you're all jabbed up.
Food will be served and the menu published nearer the time.
Sat 5/2
IRE V WAL. 2.15pm
SCO V ENG. 4.45pm
Sat 12/2
WAL V SCO. 2.15pm
FRA V IRE. 4.45pm
Sun 13/2
ITA V ENG. 3pm
Sat 26/2
SCO V FRA. 2.15pm
ENG V WAL. 4.45pm
And finally.....
But perhaps most importantly, proof - if needed - that there is much more to your community club than rugby.
Junior Coach Mark Scoular organised for his former colleague from the Royal Marines, Scott Mills to address on the evening of 5th Jan a large audience of (mainly teenage) players and coaches on the subject of Leadership.
"Scotty" described his rise from humble beginnings to playing a leading role in the Royal Marines before sharing his experiences working with the 2003 Rugby World Cup winners, 2016 Hockey Gold Medal Team & his role with the current England Football Team.
Inspiring stuff that will leave a lasting impression on our young people on and off the pitch.
