The
CRY Crusaders survived a
long day at Farnham RFC
remaining unbeaten
throughout the day to
pick up the Main Winners
trophy.
Group
Stages
The
group stages started for
the Crusaders at 11am.
The side started in a
commanding manner,
dispatching a poor
Aldershot & Fleet side
57 0. Next up
was Perins' Old Boys who
started quickly catching
the Crusaders cold, and
going into a 5 0 lead
which they held until
half time. Select words
were used at half time
and the Crusaders came
out strong ending Perins
resistance to run out
comfortable winners in
the end, 29 5.
The
penultimate group game
was against a Farnham
side that contained a
tight five orientated
side, with a couple of
backs to lessen the
average weight. A few of
the Crusaders play their
club rugby at Farnham so
there was a great
atmosphere in this game.
A few personal scores
were settled on the
pitch and some classy
tries were added in a
resounding 49 0
victory for the
Crusaders.
The
final group game was
against Godalming Gods -
a group of students that
showed plenty of
ambition and who we
would do battle with
again later on in the
day. Both teams went
into the final group
game unbeaten, both
fighting it out for top
spot. The Crusaders
played their best game
of the day to out-muscle
their younger
counterparts 36 0,
featuring Gabe Hills'
reverse pass inside two
defenders straight to
Toby Comley, who beat
the last defender to
score the try of the
tournament.
Semi
Final
The
Semi Final brought
together the two
favourites for the
tournament, the CRY
Crusaders and Tsunami
Castaways. This game
would live up to all
expectations and not
disappoint in the
slightest.
The
Crusaders got off to a
terrible start and
quickly went down 14 0
to a powerful Castaways
side. For the
second time in the day,
inspired words were
spoken at half time. The
poor first half was
quickly erased with a
superb fight back in
which the Crusaders ran
in 21 unanswered points.
A dubious penalty was
given to the Castaways
with time on the clock
out. A quick tap and a
great line by one of
their big forwards
resulted in a try under
the posts with the
conversion added to tie
the game 21 21.
Extra
time was restarted by
the Crusaders, with a
deep kick and a good
chase putting the
Castaways under pressure
in their 22. One of the
attackers was isolated
and possession was
turned over, the ball
was moved in field to
Mike Salmon who beat a
couple of defenders to
score under the posts to
allow the Crusaders to
move into the final.
Final
At
7pm the final took place
between the Crusaders
and Godalming Gods.
The long day and energy
used to overcome the
Tsunami Castaways in the
Semi Final looked as if
it would halt the
Crusaders in their
efforts to win the
Farnham 7s title. A few
uncharacteristic
mistakes in the first
couple of minutes,
alongside a few flashes
of brilliance in attack,
left a half time score
of 14 12 to the
Crusaders.
The message at half time
was to slow things down,
be patient and keep
possession. This was
taken on board by the
players and a couple
more converted tries
were added in the second
half. The final score
was 28 12 to the
Crusaders.
A
great day for the team
both on and off the
pitch. Many people
visited our stand and
purchased merchandise
and were made aware of
Cardiac Risk in the
Young.