Farnham travelled to Wimbledon on a sunny October afternoon looking to get back to winning ways. The home side had yet to register a win with Farnham holding a 50% win record. The team only had 1 change from last week with Matt Kouris coming in at hooker with Jonny Vincent happily moving back to 6.

Wimbledon kicked off and although the kick wasn’t clean, it luckily bounced in space and a knock on forced a scrum. The early exchanges were back and forth with both teams looking to start strong. However it was the hosts who struck first when their 15 broke through before being tackled 5 meters out. The ball was well recycled with their left winger dotting down for the first score. Conversion successful, 7-0. Farnham had to respond and did so when Toby Simmons broke down the left and was stopped 10 meters short. The ball was kept tight with Harry West finding the charging Harrison Horner who easily dived over for his first try of the season. Conversion successful, 7-7. Farnham continued to look threatening in attack and won a penalty 25 meters out in front of the posts and Toby Salmon kicked it over for a 7-10 lead.

A scrum penalty allowed Farnham to kick for the corner and set up a rolling maul that was well managed and allowed Greg Franzel to dot down for the 2nd score. Conversion successful, 7-17, 20 minutes gone. Wimbledon looked threatening in attack and wore down the Farnham defence through consistent hard carrying with their centre scoring in the left corner. Conversion missed, 12-17. A high shot on Matt Kouris from the Wimbledon 8 resulted in a yellow card for the rest of the first half. Farnham marched down the field and another penalty 5 meters out could have meant another yellow card however the referee felt generous. A well executed backs move left space for Toby Simmons who finished off well in the corner. Conversion missed, 12-22. A few loose kicks gave the dynamic Wimbledon backline chances to counter which they did effectively and got them close to the line. The forwards took over and scored a try on halftime. 17-22 HT.

The half time words were to kick better and control the game. An early break from Toby Simmons found Joey Wood however his final pass wasn’t his finest and went forward. Farnham pushed over the resulting scrum though and almost found their bonus point but the ball was held up. The goal line drop out was countered well through Toby Simmons and then Toby Salmon broke down the left to then find Jonny Vincent who ran in under the posts for the 4th try. Conversion successful, 17-29. The tries continued to go back and forth as the home team continued to cause problems in attack and their number 8 managed to break several tackles and score under the posts. Conversion successful, 24-29. Farnham responded well again though and won a breakdown penalty and kicked to the corner. Matt Kouris broke off the maul and was stopped 10 meters short and after a few phases, Greg Franzel thought he scored again however the referee judged it to be knocked on. Farnham again countered well of the goal line dropout with Toby Simmons making yards down the right hand side. The ball was moved down the line and Toby Salmon finish off in the corner. Conversion missed, 24-34.

Alex Young came on in the centres with Ollie Kirkpatrick and Marco Azevedo bolstering the pack. Another lineout move was well worked and Alex Young managed to shrug off a couple of defenders and run in for his first Farnham try to give some breathing room. Conversion successful, 24-41. 18 minutes remained on the clock and many thought the game was done however Wimbledon thought otherwise. The next 15 minutes was dominated by the home team as Farnham couldn’t contain their attack. A yellow card to Max Williams made things harder with several Farnham players run off their feet. 3 tries were scored in this time with the final try under the posts meaning a simple conversion gave Wimbledon the lead, 43-41 with 3 minutes remaining. Farnham won a penalty though and kicked for touch to try set up one more attacking charge however a knock on resulted in a scrum. A big Farnham push from the scrum squirted the ball out with the Wimbledon winger tackled but he tried to get back up and the referee awarded Farnham a penalty 40 metres out with 35 seconds to go. Toby Salmon immediately opted for the posts and stepped up to kick the winning penalty and breathe a huge sigh of relief, to claim the full 5 points. 43-44 FT.

A lucky escape for Farnham who let the lead slip but still managed to claim a vital victory that sees them move up to 6th in the table. Next week we welcome London Scottish Lions to Monkton Lane who sit 3rd in the table.

Presidents podium:
3- Toby Salmon
2- Toby Simmons
1- Matt Kouris