A new era begins for Farnham.

A new era began for Farnham Rugby Club on Saturday. After more years than we would like to remember, Farnham had their first competitive game at their new home in Wilkinson Way. A hundred invited guests sat down in the club house for an inaugural Chairman’s lunch before the game, past Chairmen and Captains from over the years and also sponsors and invited guest. Special praise was given to the committee for its long term efforts in producing one of the top facilities in the country for junior rugby.
On a beautiful autumn afternoon Old Walcountains kicked off on the stroke of 3pm to a wildly enthusiastic balcony on the club house.
Farnham went on the attack from the start, showing great calm and control even though prop Yeomans received a few light punches to warm him up. It was only 8 minutes into the game when Old Ws conceded a penalty wide on the right, up stepped returning Scrum Half Rubio, a product of Farnham and Loughborough to gently dissect the bars putting Farnham 3-0 in the lead.
A subsequent penalty saw Penn kick to touch, the following lineout was taken well by Daly and Rubio fed the ball to Corlett who powerfully ran into the corner. Farnham led 8-0 with the conversion missed. Old Ws kicked off straight to Daly again who fed the ball to Rubio who span wide to Corlett who again broke the line before feeding Hurley for another try that was converted by Rubio to leave Farnham leading 15-0 in the first 20 minutes.
The Farnham pack were now showing great spirit, with Bond and Chiverton taking any loose balls, a master class on mauling from Bond. Five minutes later after a rolling Farnham maul Bond burst free to score Farnham’s third which was dually converted by Rubio giving Farnham a lead of 22-0 as the referee closed out the first half.
Farnham started off the second half in style with a great Daly run feeding Meagher who was held just short of the line. After more pressure the ball was span to Corlett who had an easy run in for his second and the ever reliable Rubio converted to give a 29-0 lead , 15 minutes into the second half. Within a minute Old Ws showed why they are a Division one team with a wide move that saw Farnham miss two rare tackling chances allowing them to score under the post. The Farnham kick off although good saw Old Ws counter and a sizzling wide run by the centre South saw Farnham’s lead cut by another 7 points almost straight away
A change in the front row saw one of last years players of the season Trodden replacing Yeomans in the front row, this was followed quickly by an injury to fly half Penn who was replaced by the experienced Lewis. Second row Hatley was also substituted with Phillips stepping into the no. 8 position. Farnham held a good lead still but were struggling to play to the ref, and were penalised a number of times in the loose in rucks and mauls.
A tiring Farnham then conceded their third score as Old Ws talented fly half Gritten cut a blistering line through several Farnham players to score under the post, which he easily converted. The whistle finally say Farnham win their first league game at the new venue 29-21, and gaining the bonus point for the four tries. A steady start with room for improvement. A crowd numbering over 250 watched the three teams play home fixtures for the first time at Wilkinson Way and were given a great show as all three teams came away with victories. A Stirling performance by the players, and a celebrated success for the Farnham Committee led by Geoff Robbins who have fought for over a decade for the move and the New Ground.
The result puts Farnham second in the Surrey Div 1 league after Old Wimbeldonians, a great start.