Under the clear blues skies of a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and the shadow of the clubs new posts the first home game of the fledgling Faringdon Adult rugby team took place on Sunday October 21st. Fairford provided the opposition in what developed into a keenly contested match which swung one way then the other over a gruelling 80 minutes.

Faringdon started well with the pack in particular (many of whom had only met 20 minutes before kick off!) playing well as a unit in set pieces and in the loose. Much of the first 10 minutes were spent in the Fairford 22 and a score eventually came from a penalty five metres from the line when Patrick Ramsey the Faringdon No.8 took a quick tap penalty and muscled his way over the line for a deserved try. Chris Smith added the conversion to give the home side a 7 – 0 lead. As the half progressed Fairford began to get into the game and started to ask questions of the Faringdon defence. But good tackling around the fringes by Ian Warburton and James Timber in the Faringdon back row and Nick Carter and Gavin Hunt in the centres kept them at bay.

The Wilkinson like boot of Chris Smith added a penalty after 20 minutes to take the score to 10 – 0 as the home side battled to build a cushion before half time. The penalty however only spurred the visitors on to put more pressure on the Faringdon defence. Despite try saving tackles by Chris Badcock on the wing and Brain Critchley at full back, sustained pressure 5 metres from the Faringdon try line eventually proved too much and Fairford powered over close to the posts with the successful conversion bringing the deficit to 10 – 7. The try gave impetus to Fairford who continued to have the better of territory during the closing stages of the first half. They finally took the lead following a slick backs move and good support play from their forwards which resulted in try in the corner. The conversion proved too difficult for the Fairford kicker leaving the half time score at 12 – 10 in favour of the visitors.

After a welcome breather during the half time break the second half got under way with Faringdon trying to regain the upper hand. Solid scrummaging from Andy Quainton, Martin Scanlon and Paul Edwards in the front row gave the home side some good clean ball to try and put some early pressure on the away team. Good hands in the backs lead to an opportunity for David James to show his pace on the wing but he was forced into touch metres short of the line. More driving play from the forwards continued to produce good ball and following a break by veteran scrum half Darren Kenyon to breach the Fairford defence Nick (don’t know your second name, sorry Nick!!) sprinted in for a fine try in the corner. Chris Smith was unable to convert the try which gave the home side a slender lead of 15 – 12.

Much the same as in the first half the score galvanised the visitors into action. The Fairford pack began to exert serious pressure in set pieces and the cohesion of a team that plays together regularly began to show. At one point a Fairford centre broke through the Faringdon defensive line and looked certain to score, but a fine cover tackle from Ian Oglesby stopped him just short of the line. Fairford varied their attacks and following one of several towering high balls sent up by their stand off they eventually got the converted try that they deserved. With the score now at 19 – 15 to the visitors the last quarter of the game saw Faringdon try to force the game to get the vital next score. However, and interception inside the Faringdon half saw the Fairford full back break Faringdon hearts scoring under the posts. The conversion took the visitors two scores in front at 26 – 15.

A valiant rearguard action from the Faringdon side resulted in five minutes of concerted pressure to finish the game but tired legs and weary bodies could not breach the Fairford defence. Both sides clapped each other off the pitch at the end of a rousing game of rugby played with great spirit and commitment from both sides. All members of the Faringdon 24 man squad made valuable contributions to the game, so apologies to those who have not been mentioned in this report. However, the spirit of the game was encapsulated by Neil and Josh Osment, Father and son playing in a competitive match together for the first time and like the rest of us having a great time doing so.

The club would like to thank the leisure centre for allowing the teams to use the changing facilities, the community college for continued use of their pitches and for putting up the new posts!

Thanks to Mal at the Duke of Wellington for allowing us to use the pub as our clubhouse after the game, and finally to Ken Bumpass secretary of the Oxfordshire R.F.U. and his wife Ann who came to support the club at its first home game.

For anyone interested in joining the adult section of the club contact Rachel or Darren Kenyon at DARRENANDRACHEL@tinyworld.co.uk. Our next training session will be on November 11th at 12.15 at the leisure centre and our next game is due to be on December 2nd.