Those who read this paper regularly will recognise that if looking solely at results Farnham have been struggling this year, but what many readers may not realise is that this is a completely new Farnham team following the retirement of numerous players, and that despite the results this is a team with a massive heartbeat, who are in the process of putting in place strategies and procedures that will ensure the long term benefit of the club. Warlingham maintained their position at the top of the league following this victory, but will be the first to admit that the scoreline bore no resemblance to the closeness of the match, and the spirit with which this Farnham team approached the match.

Prior to the kick off the very successful Farnham U11 team played an exhibition match against the hosts, and ran out comfortable winners with an impressive all round performance. Initially Farnham met some solid defence from their counterparts, but some excellent handling in the backs and fierce determination at the breakdown saw the U11 team run out winners 35 – 0. Congratulations to all of the players and their coaches on such an impressive display. Head Coach Martin Beer will find an A4 envelope in the post on Monday morning containing registration forms for each of his players!

Inspired the 1^st XV took to the pitch and competed impressively despite their lowly league position from the kick off against a team riding high at the top of the league. Having won the toss Farnham elected to play with the sun behind them in the first half, and made a solid start to the match as Warlingham struggled to gather clean possession from their own kick off. Debutant James Trodden, and his fellow back row forwards Ritchie Phillips and the again outstanding Dean Chiverton harassed their opponents to good effect, allowing Gareth Evans at scrum half to make some good breaks to keep the Warlingham players almost honest. Fly half Andy James saw plenty of ball throughout, and mixed up his game superbly to keep the opposition under pressure, and anyone watching would have thought that the two teams were in similar positions in the league.

Unfortunately the positions in the table are relevant, and despite some excellent midfield defence from Chris Dury and Nic Robertson (playing against his former team and newly engaged) Warlingahm escaped on several occasions from inside their own half to run in tries from deep. Undetered Farnham kept going at their opponents, and came close to scoring on several occasions with winger Sven Kolczak hauled down just short of the line; Gareth Evans leading a break that saw Robertson and the supporting Charlie Cooksey stopped just short; and No 8 Ritchie Phillips grounding the ball against the post only for the referee to award a 5m scrum to Farnham.

The half time score was 28 – 0 to Warlingham, but the half time message to the players was to have belief in what they were doing, and for the forwards to take the game more to their opponents.

In the second half Farnham did indeed begin to take the game to Warlingham, but conceded further tries from distance, often due to a single missed tackle. The rest of Farnham’s defensive play was good, and they induced a staggering number of knock-ons from their pressure on Warlingham players. Unfortunately the one area of Farnham’s play that really misfired was the scrum, and as well as losing a number of balls against the head, any ball that they did win was immediately under pressure, ruining field position and any previously gained advantage.

Warlingham are a well established club with numerous former players and officials who support their team, both in pre-match lunches and at the side of the pitch, whilst most of the Farnham founders are still playing(!). Farnham cannot realistically expect to compete on the same stage at this time in their development, but are grateful to the supporters who attend regularly in difficult times, and the Farnham players wanted their gratitude to be expressed to Chairman Geoff Robins, President Gary McManus, and the other die hards, for their continued support and willingness to make sacrifices for the Farnham cause, often without public recognition.

With only four league games remaining Farnham are relegated, but can you afford to miss the atmosphere when Blackie’s men record their first league win at home against London South Africa (01/03/08) or Petersfield (29/03/08)? Additionally Farnham will be at home this Saturday, and afterwards guests are invited to come and enjoy the atmosphere on the big screen as England play France in Paris (kick off 8p.m.).

The Farnham Sevens competition on the 26^th April is also filling up, but any interested teams or referees should get in contact with the organiser (details on the website www.farnhamrugby.org).