Finchley run riot in the Autumn sunshine.

Finchley got off to their usual shaky start with some errors leading to some early NZ pressure (main error was from the author of this piece!!!). But following this early blip Finchley soon settled into their stride putting together some good passages of play with forwards and backs interlinking well. This led to the first of Finchley’s many tries. James Clarke making one of his trademark breaks through the NZ defence before being brought down just short of the line, Victor Coker then re-cycled the ball quickly allowing David Tuft to dive over in the corner. Tuft converted.

Finchley then quickly built on this lead with Tuft providing the assist for Man of the Match Bryden Fraser to go over, again converted by Tuft. NZ then re-started and immediately Finchley were on the attack again with the forwards providing a great platform for Chris Duck to set up Coker for his first try. This quick passage of play meant Finchley led 19-0 after 20 minutes.

NZ then came back into the game scoring 2 tries and converting 1. Buts that enough about them.

This comeback had the desired effect on the Finchley team who quickly replied from the kick off with some good recycling of the ball for James Clarke to send Alex McCarthy over for Finchley’s 4th try and bonus point, this was to be the last action of the first half which saw Finchley leading 24-12.

Starting the 2nd half with some changes made in the pack and backline Finchley soon began to dominate the play again with Tom Saliba linking well with both backs and forwards, this led to a trademark Saliba ‘Hollywood’ pass over the top of the NZ defence for David Tuft to go over for his 2nd in the corner.

From this moment until the 80th minute Finchley never looked back, tearing up the NZ defence with strong running, deft offloads and solid execution of moves. This consistency led to Coker (2nd try), Clarke x2 and McCarthy (2nd try) all going over the line, helped again by the dominant pack laying a solid foundation for the backs to ‘work their magic!!’. Saliba had an off day with the boot only converting 1 out of the 4, although by this point NZ were broken and defeated.

Final Score 12-51

This was another great win for the men from Summers Lane, against an unpredictable team who have been a bogey side for the men in red and white in recent times. For the 2nd time in 3 weeks Finchley put 50 points on the opposition, something which delighted coaches Tim Bennett and Mick Clifford.

Next week see’s Finchley travel to Old Brentwoods for the first cup encounter of the season, with everyone keen to keep the momentum going for the tough test of Welwyn on the 26th.