Finchley up and running in the league.

The game got underway with the men in red and silver kicking off and playing down hill towards a big Hemel team. In the opening 5 minutes Finchley took off from where they finished last week against Hampstead applying good pressure in defence and putting together some good solid passages of play with ball in hand. This pressure in both attack and defence led to the first scoring opportunity of the game, a Finchley penalty which Earl slotted over, 0-3.

The next passage of play following the Hemel kick off led to a scrum in the Finchley half which gave the front row of Cooper, Simms and Willacy the opportunity to get the upper hand on their opposite numbers, this was duly accomplished by the front 3 and Finchley won a penalty which allowed O’Sullivan to clear. The work from the pack and the front 3 especially was to give Finchley a great platform to launch from for the rest of the afternoon.

Next came a passage of play consisting of good defence and solid line out play from McAulliffe and Eaton which led to another penalty being awarded to Finchley, Earl slotted 0-6.

A a poor passage of the game for the visitors followed with a lapse in defence and kick covering that led to the first try of the game which went to the home side, with the winger scoring in the corner, conversion missed 5-6.

This was as close as the home side would get to Finchley all afternoon as during the next 10 minutes Finchley were able to go over for 2 touchdowns. The first of these was once again possible due to a dominant Finchley scrum 20 metres out from the home teams 22, Earl fed O’Sullivan who executed a lovely ‘show and go’ to cross over underneath the posts, Earl converted 5-13.

The 2nd score of the day for Finchley came from the quick thinking of Earl who was to take a quick tap penalty and then feed a flying Alex Goring for the big number 6 and Finchley’s top yard maker of the day to touch down, Earl converted 5-20.

With the first half winding down the Finchley were able to make a break through 13 Jamie Hartnoll who linked well with captain Aleks McCarthy who then returned the ball to Hartnoll for the 13 to be tackled just short of the line, the resulting ruck led to Finchley being awarded another penalty that Earl kicked to make the scores 5-23.

The final few minutes of the first half was a lesson in solid defence from Finchley who managed to keep the home side from scoring, this defence would prove to frustrate the home side all afternoon.

Half time 5-23

The second half got underway much as the first finished with the Finchley pack giving the backs the basis to play with the ball in hand with Sam Thomas in particular making some barnstorming runs in midfield, this also allowed O’Sullivan to put in some nice kicks behind the Hemel defence which pinned the home team back.

The sides then traded penalties in a hard fought period of the game with both sides playing between the 22’s. Hemel began to put some passages of play together and through a penalty were able to complete a line out 8 metres out from the Finchely line, the away side once again though proved to good in defence with some hard tackling and great commitment leading to the Hemel pack being held up over the line by Tufft and McAulliffe.

Following this effort Finchley were then able to play some rugby in the Hemel half with Saliba (now playing 12 following an injury to Thomas) and O’Sullivan to put in some well placed kicks and pin back the home team.

Some frantic play and a clear obstruction then led to a second try for the home side which was converted making the scores 23-12.

A nervous final few minutes then ensued for the Finchley supporters on the side line, these nerves appeared to have vanished towards the end of the game when Jack Mousley made a good break in open play and then fed McAulliffe who appeared to have touchdown only for the referee to say that the big Irishman was just short.

Following this some outstanding scrummaging from Man of Match Cooper and the rest of the pack coupled with some more heroic defence meant that Finchley held on for the win.

Final score: 12-23

This was a bright start for the men from Summers lane and a very pleasing result away from home. All 18 players played with their hearts on their sleeves for 80 minutes and although they missed some clear cut opportunities to secure a bonus point win they proved to good for their opposition in all departments.

Next week sees Belsize park come to N12 for Finchley’s first league home game of the season and the coaching staff will be looking for Finchley to build on this encouraging start.