Farnham welcomed Wimbledon to Monkton lane on a sunny winter afternoon. After a week of rain, the surface was soft and visibly muddy but Farnham still managed to host 3 home games so huge credit to the grounds staff. A couple of changes from last weeks defeat to Jersey as Ollie Kirkpatrick came in for the injured Jonny Vincent with George Bellamy also returned to the starting lineup. Alex Young shifted to the wing and Joey Wood started at 13.

Wimbledon kicked off and Farnham started the better of the sides. Two good kicks from Ieuan Finey-Jones gained Farnham good field position and they were awarded a penalty 5 meters out. They decided to tap and go with the forwards carrying well, edging closer to the line and Oscar Henderson managed to power over for the first score of the game. Conversion successful, 7-0. The first 20 minutes saw a high amount of high tackles for both sides but the Farnham defence was looking solid and hard to break down. Wimbledon were reduced to 14 men with another high tackle penalty. Farnham looked to utilise the man advantage and builded their attack patiently. Oscar Henderson lead the carry stats as did most of the Farnham pack with the surface not made for brilliant running rugby.

Farnham had to wait till the 30 minute mark for their next score when Ben Jones fed his Menzies colleague Shawa Rai who bursted through the gap and was dragged just short of the try line. The ball was quickly recycled and Toby Salmon was on hand to dive over from close range. Conversion successful, 14-0 . Wimbledon almost responded immediately but the Farnham defence scrambled well to hold them up. However the visitors did get on the board minutes later when a simple penalty was converted to make it 14-3. The halftime whistle followed shortly afterwards and the game was still in the balance.

Farnham kicked off the 2nd half and the next score was crucial. The home team started well but just couldn’t manage to finish off an early chance. However minutes later, they did break down the Wimbledon defence when some nice hands from Ben Jones and Toby Salmon found Toby Simmons in the space with the winger barreling through the fullback to finish off well in the corner. Conversion successful, 21-3. Greg Franzel and Ollie Brown both came on to add some energy and experience. Wimbledon had their moments in attack but on the whole Farnham were fronting up well with Toby Simmons reading a long pass and intercepted to stop a certain score. However Wimbledon did strike on 60 minutes when they turned the ball over and moved it well through their backline with their right winger finishing off well in the corner. Conversion successful, 21-10.

Farnham responded minutes later though with Shawa Rai again starting the move and Alex Young broke down the right to get Farnham into the visitors 22. They were patient and Ben Jones fizzed a ball to Toby Simmons who ran in for his 2nd score and Farnham’s bonus point try. Conversion missed, 26-10. Ollie Kirkpatrick was having a fantastic game in the loose as well as consistently finding his man in the lineout. The backrow of George Bellamy, Shawa Rai and Oscar Henderson were all excellent and led the charge in defence and attack.

Wimbledon weren’t going to give up though and Farnham knew they couldn’t give them a sniff. The visitors were again reduced to 14 men although Farnham were slightly aggrieved by the referees whistle as they were in for a score. Farnham’s scrum dominance grew as the game went on and they got a pushover score to kill off the game with 10 minutes to go, Oscar Henderson touching down for his 2nd score of the game. Conversion successful, 33-10. The final Farnham score really impressed the home crowd when a well executed lineout move saw Ben Jones offload well to Ben Stevens who showed his great pace to sprint clear of 3 defenders and run under the posts for a great score. Conversion successful, 40-10. Wimbledon did manage to finish off well with a score but the full time whistle followed to mean it finished 40-17.

A brilliant 5 points for Farnham who stay 7th and can rest up next week. Head coach Ali Chisholm was very pleased with the performance and the presidents podium below matched his thoughts.

Presidents podium:
3- Shawa Rai
2- Ollie Kirkpatrick
1- George Bellamy