In one of the most emotional season finales in our Club’s proud history, the 3rd XV of the Bec Old Boys RFC secured the league championship of Surrey Combination 3 of 2011-12 on Saturday 14 April with a barnstorming 50-0 win over 2nd placed Farnham 3rd XV.

The passion and energy were close to fizzing over pre kick off, as we donned black armbands and observed two minutes’ silence in memory of our dearly and tragically departed club mate Nathan Carter. In honour of Carts, Rubes wore the number 2 jumper today and it was clear to this observer that it would take a very special and determined Farnham outfit to stop Bec today and fortunately, that didn’t come to pass.

As Bec received the kickoff going uphill, our commitment to the cause and brute strength in the contact unnerved Farnham who appeared to be caught off guard – they were going downhill and possibly expected an easier ride in the first half. At the 6 minute mark, Ryan Dorahy ran off a nice movement with Alex Harrington-Griffin and scored to the left of the posts. Rubes duly obliged with a conversion to make it 7-0 to the home side.

Our centre pairing was working wonders today, and soon afterwards, H-G was in himself after a number of incisive runs uphill. After Ryan’s second try at the 20” mark, Farnham regained some composure and tested the Bec defence in our own 22 with a number of probing kicks from their wily scrum half. The Bec line was not to be breached though, and a full team commitment to not conceding penalties in the ruck meant that the opportunities for Farnham continued to be few and far between.

With the half time oranges out of the way (and a nice little fence climbing cameo from Dave Arscott to retrieve a couple of balls so the game could resume), again, Bec committed bodies to the cause even though we were going downhill. We decided that the foot should not be released from the throat and sure enough, Ryan was in again 12 minutes into the half.

The game was surely slipping out of Farnham’s reach when old Rubes injected himself into the attacking line about 10 metres out from Farnham’s goal and touched down having barged over 2 would-be defenders. Rubes dedicated the try to Carts with a skyward pointed finger and a conversion to make the score 31-0.

As team captain, Andy Dailey was critical to the team’s success this season, and duly brought himself on with 20 minutes to go. The Bec defence though was awesome throughout, and repeated urgings from O’Connor and Popham to hold the line intact proved fruitful as Bec repelled attack after attack from Farnham. A special mention must go to our wrecking ball front rower Matty Harrison, who repeatedly ran through the Farnham line and created space and time like a new theory from Stephen Hawking. Three further tries were icing on the Bec cake, and Rubes obliged with a couple of cheeky drop conversions for the last two – these were in response to an unfriendly jibe from Farnham about his goalkicking ability.

With the full time whistle, the beer showers commenced and an emotional day was ended. We dedicate this league championship to Carts’ memory – may he rest in peace. Thanks for making the sun shine mate.

Your humble correspondent today has been Redmond Lee.



Bec Old Boys
1. John Daly
2. Matty
3. Rob Popham
4. Harry Riley
5. Glen Lowis
6. James Fraser
7. Robert Jones
8. Miles Cox

9. Keith Clinker
10. Christie O'Connor
11. Andrew West
12. Alex Griffin
13. Ryan Dorahy
14. Ronnie Gallon
15. Rubes

16. Dave Klauber
17. DK (Miles' mate)
18. Andy Dailey (c)
19. Anthony Callery
20. Andrew Barton
21. Ryan K-S
22. Matt King
23. Ben Doran
24. Ronnie Gallon
25. Nick Stevenson
26. James Page


Result : Bec Old Boys 50 Farnham 0
Minutemaster
6”: Try – Dorahy, conversion Rubie (7-0)
14” : Try – Harrington-Griffin (12-0)
20” : Try – Dorahy, conversion Rubie (19-0)
HALF TIME
52” : Try – Dorahy (24-0)
61” : Try – Rubie, conversion Rubie (31-0)
70” : Try – O’Connor (36-0)
76” : Try – Cox, conversion Rubie (43-0)
78” : Try – Callery, conversion Rubie (50-0)