Farnham travelled to Old Reigatians for their penultimate game of the season, aiming to bounce back after last week’s loss to Battersea. Farnham gave debuts to young forwards George Haylett and Archie Cleeve, with Rhys Bassett also coming in at the last minute at scrum half for his first game of the season.

Farnham kicked off with the wind behind them and applied early pressure with plenty of attacking phases. An early penalty gave Farnham the opportunity to kick for the corner, get their maul rumbling and apply pressure to the Reigatians line. With the penalty advantage, Farnham spun the ball wide through the backs allowing Toby Salmon to step inside and touch down in the corner. Farnham had the early lead. 5-0.

Reigatians hit back quickly and following good interplay between their forwards, released their flanker to charge towards the Farnham line, only to be stopped by a classic try saving tackle by Reece Stennett. Unfortunately, when going for the turnover, Stennett did not release and was given 10 minutes in the bin.

Reigatians took made the most of the man advantage to score in the corner and tie the game up at 5-5. The game had an “end-of-season” feel to it with some loose play in both team’s 22. After some loose passes by Farnham, Reigatians capitalised to make it 12-5.

Farnham had a lot of possession in the first half and some strong carrying by loose forwards Jonny Vincent and Archie Cleeve kept Farnham going forward.

The last play of the first half was a breakout from inside Farnham’s own half. The ball was spun wide to Reece Stennett who made plenty of yards and broke tackles before offloading to the supporting Mike Salmon who galloped in under the posts. 12-12 at the break with the game tightly poised.

Reigatians started the better of the teams in the second half and built some good attacking phases before breaking down the usually reliable Farnham defence to score under the posts to make it 19-12. Farnham had to respond quickly and did so as Toby Salmon intercepted a long re Reigatians pass on half-way to run in his second try and narrow the gap to 19-17.

The match proved a very back and forth affair with Reigatians scoring again to retake a 9 point lead before Farnham applied pressure. After some good hands from the backs and a nice long pass from Tim Salmon put Reece Stennett in the corner to make the game 26-22.

The set piece was a real strength for Farnham all afternoon with George Haylett having a very promising debut at prop and Ben Adams and Toby Comley controlling the lineout well. However, as the 2nd half went on, the game broke up with Reigatians scoring some well executed tries to take the game beyond Farnham’s reach. Farnham did however score the final try with a great rolling maul which was illegally pulled down on the line to earn Farnham a penalty try taking the final the final score 45-29.

With only a try bonus point to add to the season’s tally, it wasn’t Farnham’s day. Despite scoring some handsome tries, the defence was not up to the standard that has earned them their lofty league position. With Reeds Weybridge losing their final game, Farnham have secured 2nd place in the RFU Regional 2 South East league – the highest in the club’s history – and with a game in hand. That postponed match against Gravesend will provide the Black and Whites with a last hurrah at Monkton Lane before a well-earned rest,

Podium
Reece Stennett 3- Superb in attack and defence.
George Haylett 2- Very promising debut and great in the set piece.
Rhys Bassett 1- got stuck in from the first minute and controlled the game well.