Battersea Ironsides 17 – 7 Farnham

Farnham made the lengthy trip to Wandsworth on Saturday knowing that they needed a win to bounce back after their narrow home defeat last time out against Old Emanuel.

The Farnham squad knew that this team has never beaten Battersea on their patch and knew that they would have to put in a great performance to pull off the victory.

Unfortunately Farnham played like a team of historians rather than a team of revolutionaries on Saturday and suffered another defeat at the hands of Battersea at Battersea.

In a team that was packed with youth and skill, with only one player over the age of thirty (who also happens to be the least skilful) Farnham were found wanting in terms of application and structure.

Farnham knew Battersea would approach the breakdown and despite this having been discussed during the week and during the game, Farnham failed to adapt their game play to take into account Battersea’s strengths.

That said in a tipsy turvy first half Farnham dominated for a period and were held up over the line before Battersea spent a period dominating. Farnham were still well and truly in this game at half time as they trailed 5-0.

The half time chat centred around players staying strong on their feet and getting in support of one another at the breakdown area, however, Farnham did not react.

In the second half Battersea scored another try which was well worked and then an unfortunate knock on from a high clearing kick allowed Battersea to score their third try, which was converted.

Farnham responded in the last ten minutes with a try from Chris Penn from a quick tap and go penalty, the try was converted to leave the score as 17-7.

Farnham need to regroup quickly this week and remember that they cannot continue to play the wide expansive game they are looking to play without having earned the right to go wide. Farnham will need to work on re-establishing the structure to their play which saw them win so many games at the end of last season. If they fail to do so the only way they will leave Surrey 2 is through relegation, rather than promotion.