Farnham travelled down to Wimborne on Saturday afternoon looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. Farnham fielded a fairly recognisable team with Jonny Vincent filling in at hooker and Shawa Rai filling his spot in the backrow. Farnham kicked off playing up the slight hill on a still afternoon.

The Farnham game plan was to move the ball and move the Wimborne heavies from side to side. The opening minutes showed exactly that as Farnham moved the ball well with Joe Wigmore making ground down the left hand side and Farnham bursting into the Wimborne 22 through great multi-phase attack. A penalty was conceded and Toby Salmon kicked a simple penalty. 0-3. A good start from Farnham however they failed to clear their lines from the restart and then the Wimborne forwards started to make early inroads. A few close phases followed by a hard line from their sizeable 12 got Wimborne within 5 meters of the line and a pick & go from the number 8 got them over the line for the first try of the game. Conversion successful, 7-3. Farnham reacted almost immediately when Benjy Biggs charged down a box kick with the ball falling into the hands of Shawa Rai who riggled clear of 2 defenders and showed great pace to round the fullback to score Farnham’s first try. Conversion successful, 7-10.

The game was back and forth with Farnham failing to claim the restart. A penalty gave Wimborne the chance to kick to the corner and crept closer to the Farnham line through a rolling maul. A few phases later Farnham won a breakdown penalty however an over celebration meant the referee overturned his decision with Wimborne choosing a tap and go which resulted in the Wimborne tight head powering over. Conversion successful, 14-10. The points scoring slowed down with an exchange of possession however a classic breakdown penalty from Jonny Vincent gave Farnham a chance to reduce the lead. A penalty kick from Toby Salmon 30 meters out was successful to make it 14-13. Farnham again struggled to claim the restart and were pinned in their own half. Wimborne continued to make ground in attack and earned a penalty in front of the posts which was simply converted to make it 17-13.

Wimborne were continuing to be on top and with a penalty advantage, produced a clever kick over the top which was gathered by the winger who drew the full back and sent their charging hooker under the posts. Conversion successful, 24-13. Changes were needed and Marco Azevedo and Harrison Horner came on to add some much needed power. Farnham wanted a score before the break and strung together some good phases before unfortunately knocking the ball on, close to the Wimborne line. 24-13 the halftime score.

Farnham had to respond and started the 2nd half with a lot more energy and intent. A Farnham scrum gave them a good platform and the ball was moved wide to Ben Stevens who offloaded inside to his fellow winger Joe Wigmore who broke into the Wimborne half before being stopped just short of the 22. The ball was recycled and moved wide through the hands of Ollie Brown and Toby Salmon, the latter finding Joey Wood on the wing who finished well in the corner for his first Farnham try. Conversion missed, 24-18. The game was finely poised with both sides kicking territory and being aggressive in defence. Farnham’s carriers of Horner, Henderson and Vincent were seeing more of the ball and defence leaders Shawa Rai and Sam Voight were making more dominant tackles.

Farnham were however reduced to 14 men when Joey Wood was shown a yellow card with the pressure now back on Farnham. Wimborne used the man advantage well with the ball moved wide through the backs with the 13 scoring in the corner. Conversion missed but the score now 29-18 with 15 minutes to play. Toby Simmons came onto the wing for Matt Hunt meaning Ollie Brown moving to 9 and Toby Salmon to 10. Farnham knew they had to make something happen and got the Wimborne defence moving side to side. The ball was moved out to the left to Marco Azevedo who offloaded well to Jonny Vincent who was stopped 10 meters short. Ollie Brown was quick on the scene and found Oscar Henderson on a fantastic hard line who crashed over for a great try. Conversion successful, 29-25. Farnham had their tails up and were dominating possession. A well worked training ground move saw Ben Stevens break down the left before a breakdown penalty allowed Farnham to kick for the corner.

Farnham threw everything at Wimborne who were now giving away penalties. The scrum was giving Farnham a great platform and although a knock on before the line saw a try go begging, the ref came back for a penalty. Farnham opted for a scrum and Oscar Henderson picked from the base but was stopped agonisingly short, he did however draw several defenders in and the ball was quickly recycled with Ollie Brown popping the ball to Toby Salmon who dived in under the posts. Conversion successful and Farnham now lead 29-32 with 5 minutes to go. The restarted was again messy but fell into Farnham hands and were awarded a penalty. They had the ball in the Wimborne half and kept things tight in order to see out the game. A few close carries made good meters before the ball spilled out of the ruck but fortunately found Oscar Henderson who ran through the breakdown and sprinted into the corner for the clinching try. Conversion missed but the score now 29-37 with 1 minute to go. Wimborne did manage to muster 1 last attack to try and secure a losing point but Farnham held firm and saw out the game.

A great bonus point win for Farnham who were behind for most of the game but showed great character to score 3 tries in the final 15 minutes to secure the win. Man of the match Shawa Rai was simply everywhere and was backed up well by many of the pack. Joe Wigmore led the game for clean breaks with Ollie Brown controlling the game well as usual. We host Andover next weekend that looks set to be another tough encounter.

Presidents podium
3- Shawa Rai
2- Harrison Horner
1- Oscar Henderson