CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FOR PHOENIX DRAWS CLOSER

Although Phoenix were forced to accommodate several changes to their regular starting fifteen, confidence remained high; however, after a closely fought game against Didcot the previous week, entertaining local rivals Farnham Royal was going to be no walk in the park.

Fully aware of how crucial this game was to maintaining their grip on the league, the first of the playoff games started with Phoenix on the back foot.

Farnham Royal were winning the early exchanges of possession and soon put the first points on the board through a penalty from their number 10 [0-3]; however, Phoenix began to pick up the pace and it wasn’t long before they too got themselves on the score board through a well taken try by right winger Tom Pell [5-3].

The early flurry of dominance that had been shown by the Farnham side was showing signs of withering, and Phoenix began to take a firm grasp of the game. Through a combination of a good take by N Coltman and a driving maul from the forwards, R Gill emerged with the ball and successfully put the second try on the scoreboard for the Phoenix side [10-3].

This influx of increasing pressure by the home side was beginning to take its toll on the visitors; a combination of impressive drives by S Flynn and J Quick and focussed pressure by C Russell and A Leavy, allowed the Phoenix side to begin to invoke a level of dominance on the game. A superb take from the N Colman saw a repeat of the previous line out earlier and again R Gill emerged with the ball for his second try of the game [17-3].

The Farnham side knew they had to severely up their game if they were going to change what look liked was going to be an inevitable result; some penetrating runs from their impressive centre began to put Phoenix under some pressure, and it was not long before the referee awarded Farnham a penalty just inside the Phoenix half which was coolly struck by their number 10 to bring Farnham back into the game [17-6].

What had been a one horse race was now far from it; the game was now beginning to swing in the away sides favour, and with some good drives from their forwards allowed Farnham to penetrate the Phoenix defence for their first try of the game [17-11]. Phoenix knew they were going to need to remain composed and remain in overall control of the match if they were going to take the bragging rights from the game.

Phoenix emerged into the second half accommodating some tactical substitutions and it wasn’t long before they were back in the driving seat; a good driving maul close to the Farnham line allowed replacement hooker J Dean to get himself on the score sheet and Phoenix into bonus point territory [24-11].

An impressive individual run from inside centre J Winters allowed him to make good headway towards the Farnham try line and with a quick pop pass to full back Austin Leavy allowed Phoenix to continue to rack up the points [29-11].

Phoenix were now in ‘cruise control’; further try’s from Charlie Russell and A Leavy [41-11] ensured that Phoenix came away victorious. A final late try from the away side brought a close to what was a well fought and contested match by both sides [41-21].

Phoenix now stands 17 points clear at the top of the championship table with their next game being held at Littlemore on 2nd April.

Team
Sean Flynn, Robin Gill, James Dixon, Nigel Coltman, Willem Botes, Tom Porter, Jamie Willis, James Quick, Dave Harris, Kieran Roche, John Winters, Jason Townsend, Tom Pell, Edmund Doherty, Austin Leavy, Charlie Russell, Ian Watkinson, Mikey Llyod, James Dean.