Farnham maintained their losing record at home in the league to Trojans on Saturday, but unlike their performances in other recent defeats, this performance was below the standard expected by the coaches. Trojans are going along quite nicely at the moment, and have recorded a number of wins, but the ease with which Farnham succumbed was very disappointing. The match had to be played on the old 1^st XV pitch, with the main pitch covered with standing water, but Farnham never got to grips with the sloping pitch, the referee, or their opponents.

Despite having reasonable numbers at training again, a lack of key personnel on Thursday night, and a reluctance to listen to what was being asked, resulted in a poor session, and despite a crisp match day warm up, the team again failed to rise to the occasion. Farnham made the worst possible start to the game when, from their own kick off Farnham claimed the ball, only to then spill it to the ground. With a number of players failing to tidy up the loose ball quickly, a Trojans’ player picked up and ran through several half hearted tackles to score under the posts. Immediately all confidence disappeared, with Farnham appearing to accept the inevitable, and Trojans went on to score a number of further tries.

Playing against the wind in the first half saw Farnham pinned back, as they failed to gain any distance from their clearance kicks, and although Farnham did appear in the game in phases, too many missed first up tackles, and some naïve defending enabled Trojans to score from their concerted pressure. Farnham felt that the referee gave far too much latitude to the Trojans forwards in the contact situation (entering both ruck and maul on a number of occasions from the Farnham side, and repeatedly going over the top in the ruck), but the truth is that when the scoreline is so one sided the referee will always find it easier to side with the winning team, and Farnham need to be far more streetwise in how they deal with these situations.

In the second half Farnham had the wind at their backs, but failed to raise their game until the last 15 minutes, when at last they ran a number of phases using their forward runners. Eventually after a sustained period of pressure the referee awarded Farnham a penalty try for repeated infringements by the Trojans pack, but the converted score and style of play came far to late to compensate for what had gone on before, with Trojans having scored a number of tries through some excellent support play to capitalise on Farnham mistakes.

Farnham new that this season was going to be tough, but they now need to ensure that they step back on to the progress ladder, by ensuring that they commit fully to training, and what is being asked of them by their coaches. The players must also tackle the issue of their ability to get motivated prior to the kick off, as the team has shown that it can compete in phases, but now needs to find greater self belief, as luck will then start to come their way. 

The 1^st XV resume their league campaign with an away derby fixture to Petersfield on the 15^th December, and a much improved performance is expected by those selected for this important match.

All members of the club (past and present) are invited to take part in the Gollum Cup match between two teams from the club on Thursday 27^th December, 1p.m. kick off. This is an ideal way to work off some of the Christmas excess, and also provides an excellent opportunity to bring back student members to the club. Please contact Andy Mortimore (01252 718290) for further details.