In bright sunshine, 22 of our Colts took on the Farnham Colts squad of 30 in a friendly fixture on a 4G pitch at a local school near their club. We knew it would be a tough match based on some of their recent results, and because they had several Surrey county players in their squad, and the "three thirds" format might make for a long tough morning.
From the very first move, Farnham applied serious pressure and pace, and our defence hadn't woken up and suddenly we were 5-0 down. To Bracknell's credit, the Colts sorted out our defence lines, began to play as a team, and spent the middle of the first third camped in the Farnham half, but couldn't turn pressure into points. Farnham finished the first third the strongest, and near the whistle scored a converted try to end 12-0 to the good.
We rolled some changes and began the second period on fire, and some speed and aggression and multiple driving phases ended with Max scoring in the left corner. Liam converted with a bounce off the post, and suddenly it was 12-7. The rest of the second period was end to end and closely contested but no further scores for either team.
The final third was dominated by Bracknell, although scoring chances were few and far between. Early on the Farnham defence - which had generally been solid - suddenly parted and Stan nipped through on a weaving solo run from the 22 to touch down, and when the conversion was narrowly missed it was 12-12, all to play for. Farnham managed a rare foray into our half and scored to make it 17-12, and then Bracknell camped in their half for the last 10 minutes, most of which was in their 22. We had numerous darts to the line but couldn't quite get over, and the final whistle went as yet another move had been stopped just inches short of the line.

by Phil Wells