Farnham take league leaders to the wire.

The bulk of the report written by Toby Salmon and then embellished by yours truly.

This encounter at Jersey Rugby Club will go down in the annals of Farnham’s rugby history as one of the great games ranking alongside the very close Surrey Cup match against Esher in 1984 and the victorious trip to Twickenham HQ in 2017.
Back in September, the Black and Whites had the Jersey Boys under the cosh at Monkton Lane. In the opening 30 minutes they were 13 points clear only to be hauled back by the visitors to lose 33-38 in a thrilling encounter. This Saturday saw a repeat performance and Farnham can take enormous pride in the fact that its young team is the only side to take the run-away league leaders to the wire on two occasions.
An early start to catch the plane and the first match after the festive break with training effectively binned by the deluge of rain, the Farnham boys had only the walk from the airport to the ground in which to stretch their legs. Nevertheless, coach Ali Chisholm worked his charges hard in the warm up and despite facing a heavier and more experienced team, yet again instilled the young guns with the confidence they could do the job.
Farnham kicked off down the hill wanting to make a fast start to the game. The opening ten minutes was a battle for territory and despite some big carries from the Jersey forwards, Farnham’s defence held firm. An early injury to scrum half Harry West meant a backline reshuffle with Ollie Brown moving to 9 and Ben Jones slotting in at 10. Chris Durringer joined Callum Jones in the centres to provide power and aggression with Fin Sloan dropping back to 15.
Jersey opened the scoring after some good phase play enabled tight head Tom Wilson to power over under the posts. 7-0 after 15 minutes. Farnham had to withstand a lot of pressure in the next five minutes with Jersey’s big runners coming at them hard and fast. However, the usual big hitters, Josh Watson and Jules Joris halted the Jersey attack and earned a penalty to relieve the pressure.
Farnham now got their hands on the ball with the experienced duo of Brown and Jones launching a series of well drilled and penetrative attacks. Eventually Farnham kicked a penalty to the corner where a brilliantly set maul crept towards the line from which the towering Marcus Lambert-Parsons wriggled free to touch down. The conversion was successful, and the match tied at 7-7.
Farnham effectively cleared their lines off the restart and followed up with an aggressive defence that saw Jersey make some rash decisions. Farnham regained possession on the halfway line from where a great inside ball from Ben Jones found Oscar Henderson who charged through the first line of defence and ran over the Jersey full back to score under the posts. Salmon’s conversion was good, and Farnham had their nose in front 7-14.
Belief flooded the Farnham lads as their team was clearly on the front foot. Jonathan Vincent came off the bench and immediately won a penalty at the breakdown. Ollie Brown took a quick tap and broke into the Jersey 22. A few tight phases followed before the ball was moved to Ben Jones then to Toby Salmon who stepped the Jersey 10 and sprinted in to score Farnham’s third try. Conversion successful and the lead now 7-21. Five hundred plus supporters was stunned into silence while the twenty Farnham Faithful made their presence felt from behind the posts on the eastern terrace!
With ten minutes left of the half, Farnham had remain switched on to stay in control. However, a long Jersey kick pinned Farnham into their 22 where a penalty to Jersey put the pressure on. A series of close carries got Jersey close to the line before Evan Whitson, the Jersey skipper dotted down. Conversion successful and the gap narrowed to 14-21. Farnham had to see out the half without any further punishment but unfortunately a Jersey breakout saw Fin Sloan yellow carded for not releasing. Fortunately for the visitors, the shot at goal was missed and the teams gathered for half time oranges with the visitors maintaining their slender lead.
Albeit the happier of the teams, Farnham knew they had a tricky ten minute period from the restart with one man down. Jersey kicked off and came out firing. A series of powerful carries got them in behind where they made the man advantage tell with the ball moved wide to winger Anushan Elanco who scored in the corner. The conversion attempt slid past the post, 19-21.
Farnham came back well. A clever chip and chase by Ben Jones put Farnham into the Jersey 22 where Jersey winger Dylan Stocks was penalised for a high tackle. The ref did not take kindly to Stocks’ vociferous opinion of the decision and showed him a yellow card. Toby Salmon knocked over the penalty to take the score to 19-24.
A knock on from the restart put Farnham back under pressure. The Jersey heavies now dominated a slighter Farnham pack who had given their all – and more – in the opening hour of the game. Farnham managed to repel the initial attack, but Jersey inched ever closer to the line with hooker Euan Spencer eventually dotting down. The conversion by fly half Aaron Penberthy enjoying his 100th appearance for the club, was successful and Jersey now had their noses in front 26-24.
Farnham were now back to 15 men and needed to respond. However, perhaps wearied by their endeavours to date, ill-discipline and errors cost them field position. Jersey kicked to the corner and continued to use their forwards to pound the Farnham line. Their patience paid off with a try by fresh-legged prop Nathan Thomas wide on the right. Penberthy was successful again and Jersey were up 33-24 with a quarter of the match to go.
Jack Haylett replaced Josh Watson to give Farnham some fresh energy. Some solid attacking phases followed but the visitors needed to remain patient against a well drilled defence. Jersey are not unbeaten this season by chance.
A lovely inside ball from Fin Sloan to Toby Simmons broke the deadlock. The pacey Simmons beat two defenders, drew the full back and deftly off-loaded to Salmon who ran in under the posts. A great Farnham score worthy of the try bonus point. Salmon’s conversion was good. 33-31 with 15 minutes to play.
The Farnham Faithful let it be known that the home side had a game on their hands, but their team started to feel the strain of the game. At one point there were four black and white shirts on the deck needing treatment. Indeed, doughty hooker Jules Joris who had retired with a suspected broken finder, was strapped up and returned to the fray.
A knock on gave the Jersey scrum another opportunity to drive forward with the Farnham defence beginning to tire allowing Jack Macfarlane to become the third red-shirted front row man on the scoresheet. Conversion successful, 40-31 with 10 minutes to go.
Farnham refused to lie down, and Fin Sloan broke the line to put Farnham deep into Jersey territory. Moments later, a high tackle gave Farnham a penalty 35 meters out. The decision was to take the points and bring the game back to a single score and the chance of a second bonus point and mayhap more. Toby Salmon stepped up and reduced Jersey’s lead to 40-34.
Farnham dealt with the restart well, but injuries had now reduced the team to fourteen. Jersey had the final say after yet another rolling maul from their heavies allowed Jack Macfarlane to dot down for his second try. The successful conversion put the game beyond Farnham’s reach at 47-34 and Jersey saw out the remaining few minutes to win a truly thrilling contest.
“A try bonus point is scant reward for a such monumental effort. Every player can be proud of how they pushed Jersey every inch of the way collectively as a team and with many stand out individual performances,” commented Farnham skipper Toby Salmon. “On behalf of the team, I would like to thank the travelling Farnham faithful who gave great support and made a great deal of noise despite being heavily outnumbered. I’m sure they will be in good voice again when next week we welcome Witney to Monkton Lane for a mid-table clash,” he said.
Presidents Podium (voted for by the travelling support): Marcus Lambert-Parsons 3, Toby Salmon 2, Oscar Henderson 1.