Frantic First for Farnham at Tottonians

What a starter as Farnham visited recently relegated Tottonians! They had finished last season in London 1 with a run of seven games with a points difference of just -9 collecting six losing bonus points. There inability to convert parity into wins resulted in their relegation to London 2 South. This was to be a test for the Farnham boys, who themselves had narrowly missed promotion by losing the play-off game.
Indian summer conditions greeted the teams – warm with no wind. After two months of pre-season training, at last the teams were released into a full, blown league match. The brakes were off and both squads were tested. The early sparring was end to end. Totts were rampant in the first five minutes driven on by their supporters and blessed with a big pack and hard running backs. Farnham needed to be at or near their best for the season’s opener.

After the early skirmishes Farnham began to win good quick ball with Jonny Davidson and Toby Comley to the fore at the breakdown. A penalty to Farnham and Toby Salmon put the visitors into the 22. Was it early season rust or naivety? At the line out catch and drive, Totts disrupted the maul to win the scrum followed by a 75 metre break out.

These early forays summed up the afternoon. Explosive starts, yard creating support play spoilt at the last. Both teams were guilty.

On 22 minutes, Totts enjoyed their stroke of good fortune as the referee, unsighted, failed to spot a deliberate knock on by Totts flanker Meager which put Farnham on the back foot allowing flying winger James to score in the corner. With the extras 7-0.

Farnham then upped the pace. Their play was taking direction at speed. Oli Brown called the shots with the mercurial Toby Salmon bringing elder brother Michael and co-centre James Corlett into play. Farnham possess a very quick back three this season in wingers Reece Stennett, Gabe Hills and Ben Jones. All like to run with the ball and, importantly, support the play.

Farnham were quickly back on the front foot and pressure on the home defence earned a penalty on the 22 – easy for T. Salmon. The territorial battle was beginning to swing in the black and whites direction and the pressure again was too much for the stretched Totts threequarters. One such attack resulted in a 5 metre scrum and after a series of pick and drives, No8 and eventual Man of the Match Rob Mitchell barged over wide out. Toby Salmon‘s excellent conversion from the corner added the extras 7-10.

Farnham “first game of the season injury” hoodoo struck again. From the kick off Jordan Frost, who had revelled in the pace of the game with co-second rower Ben Adams, was stretchered off with torn ankle ligaments to be replaced by Liam Welch. Keen to put his imprint on the game, Welch went through a sequence of tackles and full on charges. However, his enthusiasm led to him getting isolated for Totts to win a penaly and level the score 10-10.

The referee was hot on offsides in the threequarters and very quick to blow at the breakdown. The penalties mounted and the flow of the game was disjointed. Back to back penalties saw the sides go in at half time 13-13 with all to play for in the second 40.

Farnham started the second half with a bang. The pace and intensity heightened with wave after wave crashing onto the Totts defences. Something had to give and so it proved with a forward charge led by Schonert and Joris that allowed a snipe by Oli Brown. Brown released winger Gabe Hills who popped up to Ben Jones to go over for what turned out to be the match winning try with another superb touchline addition from Toby Salmon. 13-20.

For twenty minutes the game was a frenetic end-to-end affair. The heat and early season rustiness led to an understandable rise in mistakes. There were of course exceptions and moments of pure ‘live sport’ magic. One such moment was a last ditch try saving tackle by Reece Stennet. He had no right or chance in stopping a certain score but stop it he did with a ball dislodging, thunderous tackle.

Still the mistakes and penalties mounted. The Totts full back, who had blasted two long range penalties in the first half, was directionless in the second. Two goal attempts were pushed wide and then, from the hand, a kick to the corner disappeared over the in-goal area. On such mistakes are games won and lost.

With the clock running down there was still enough time for Totts to launch a final onslaught. This was eventually halted with the line beckoning by another try-saving, shuddering tackle from Liam Welch.

A well-deserved win for Farnham and as the games mount up, fitness and skill levels will undoubtedly ramp up. The new front row of Schonert, Brown and Joris backed by rolling sub Azevado proved equal to the bigger home heavies and the pairing of Frost and Adams plus Welch, whilst lighter than the Totts, offered extra flankers and pace around the pitch. The back rowers Comley, Mitchell and Davidson were a constant thorn both in defence and attack.

The backs put in a dominant defensive performance breached only by that somewhat dubious try. This aspect of Farnham’s game will be critical as the season unfolds judging by the high scores of this Saturday’s other league matches. The attacks didn’t flow but with new combinations they will bed in. Oli Brown cajoling rather than controlling and Toby Salmon frustrated by the lack of line breaks. However, backed by the back bone of Michael Salmon and Corlett – watertight in defence and penetrative going forward and a back three with pace to burn, the future looks exciting for this year’s squad.

Meanwhile, at Monkton Lane the Farnham Vikings (the 2nd XV) put Dorking 2s to the sword with a 57-0 victory in a pre-season game ahead of their league clash in two week’s time. With a number of players putting in outstanding performance there will be constant pressure for 1st XV places – no bad thing at all. On the day the Warriors (3rd XV) drew in a pre-season game at Old Georgians 24 all while the Barbarian’s (4th XV) narrowly lost their first encounter in Hampshire 4 at Kingsclere 32-30.