Phoenix 22 Pts v Farnham Royal 12 Pts

Defence defence defence... Then capitalize on mistakes. That summed up Phoenix's game on Saturday for its first win at home in front of 100+ spectators

Farnham Royal won the toss and elected to kick off and for the first 15 minutes they were camped in the Phoenix half, much of it in the red zone. The team under Robin Gill's leadership did not buckle but sucked it in with the tackle count in the 50s and only missing 1 or 2 tackles. An unbelievable display of courage, commitment and team work.

At 15 minutes Farnham Royal made an error and Ainsley capitalised on the mistake. Bradley Coomber booted through, Ainsley Campbell supported and gathered and scored under the posts. The try was Campbell’s the team created the mistake. 7-0 Phoenix.

Farnham Royal yet again put Phoenix under a period of pressure and the defence was staunch but Phoenix were battling to get a decent clearance. Eventually the home team won a penalty, cleared its lines and had a line out on the half way. Unfortunately there was a miscommunication at the lineout and Farham Royal spun out wide and one missed tackle saw a try. 7-7 at 20 minutes.

Once again Farnham Royal were piling on the pressure after the kick off, but with great defence, Paul Byrne intercepted a pass, and a clever chip through saw the ever present Campbell gather and score. Nigel Coltman converted the 2nd try making the score 14-7 to Phoenix at 25 minutes. Unfortunately Alex Prentice took a knock to the head, so James Richardson was brought on at wing, with Tom Pell moved to scrum half.

Farnham Royal continued to attack for the remainder of the half, but confidence was growing and first team debutant Charlie Soden and Bradley Coomber stopped the Farnham Royal back line from having an effect.

The 14-7 score at half time was a result of huge commitment from the back 3 loose forwards (Dave Harris, Mikey Lloyd and Tony Porter) joined by loosehead prop Tom Porter hitting the Farnham Royal players back at every ruck and stealing possession. Even with Farnham Royal winning the tight battle in the scrums.

In the second half, Phoenix came out on fire and put a lot of pressure on Farnham Royal. This resulted in a penalty and Coltman slotted at 44 minutes making the score 17-7 to Phoenix.

Farnham Roayl picked up its attacking forayss and eventually Edd Dibb got yellow carded for repeated team infringements around the ruck. Farnham Royal elected to scrum for the penalty, but Phoenix held strong and eventually Luke Maundrill managed to chip through a loose ball and ran 80 meters to score. At 55 minutes it was now 22-7.

With a man down Richardson went into prop and Prentice resumed at scrum half. Farnham Royal put immense pressure on and eventually exploited the one man advantage to score in the corner at 60 minutes to take the score to 22-12

With Dibb back on the field, the game changed. Confidence in the three quarters put Phoenix on the front foot and the team spent the last 20 minutes camped in the Farnham Royal half. This led to a lot of frustration from the visiting pack and the odd handbag was deployed. Phoenix did not back down and managed to close the game out, while continuing to look very dangerous.

Men of the match went to Tom Porter for his work rate in the forwards and Bradley Coomber for his skills on defence and attack.

Phoenix: Tom Porter, R Gill (Capt), E Dibb, L Maundrill, N Coltman, M Lloyd, D Harris, Tony Porter; A Prentice, P Byrne, J Dainty, C Soden, B Coomber, T Pell, A Campbell

Subs: J Richardson, T Schofield