On a perfect summers day at Monkton Lane, Farnham just failed to clinch a wonderful comeback win against old rivals KCS Old Boys. The final score of 40-42 reflected the effort from both teams in a fantastic game of flowing rugby. It was testament to commitment of both squads the that the game went right down to the wire. An extra five minutes may well have secured a stunning win for the Black and Whites. But it was not to be.
Winding the clock back eighty minutes, Farnham had a disastrous opening quarter. KCS were rampant after a series of mistakes by the home team in their 22. KCS’ first try came after a turnover by Bakewell allowed the classy Woollams to suck in the defence and fizz a grubber kick through for Charnley to touch down under the posts. An easy two for Woollams and Farnham were down 0-7 after three minutes.
Farnham did not learn their lesson and again KCS turned over the ball in the home 22 muddle allowing centre Charnley to dot down for his second. 14 points in just six minutes. Worse was to come. Farnham chose to pick and drive out of their 22 and were turned over again! From the line out the visitors drove for the line to free up winger Du Toit who provided easy pickings for Bakewell. Poor game management by Farnham had them 0-21 down in as many minutes. There was a bit to do now!
At last the Farnham boys started snapping into action. The Salmon Run of brothers Toby, Michael and Tim began to stretch the KCS mid-field defence with additional pressure from forwards Pete Daly and impressive debutant Oscar Hendersen with, as usual, Toby Comley everywhere the ball appeared. Penalty to Farnham and Toby S kicked for the corner. The drive was initially held but when reinforced by the backs inched closer and closer for a final thrust to put Jules Joris over for the score. 5-21.
Farnham were beginning to bristle and a jinking run from winger Gabe Hills carried on by the increasingly influential blind side flanker Hendersen freed up Toby Salmon to release brother Michael for the score under the posts. Easy conversion for Toby. 12-21.
The game was opening up. A Farnham player isolated and KCS kicked the penalty to the corner and drove over from the line out through prop Oduniyi. Again, easy for Woollams. 12-28.
Back came Farnham and a drive for the line through Daly was just held up. Half time and the players and supporters could draw breath. The first score of the second half would be crucial. Three avoidable game management errors had cost Farnham 21 unanswered points. Lesson learnt - get the ball out of 22 as soon as possible.
The second half was a tremendous advert for club rugby. First Farnham were on the charge with the strong breeze at their backs. A kick to the corner, a secure line out – a rarity for the home side – set up the driving maul through Ben Adams and Marco Azevedo to release Michael Salmon for the try. An easy conversion for brother Toby made it 19-28 and the comeback was on.
This was full on attritional rugby. Back came KCS. With their pack noticeably tiring, it was up to their classy back division. First flanker Bucknell latched on to a bullet pass to score under the posts. 19-35. Then a superb break out try saw winger Taylor over out wide. Woollams made it look easy 19-42. Was that it?
As has been the case in the last two games at Cobham and Camberley, this gutsy, fit Farnham outfit began to run KCS off their feet. First Toby Salmon broke through to score under the posts and convert his own try. 26-42.
Straight from the kick-off Reece Stennett and Tim Salmon freed up full back Ben Jones to drive for the line. On hand to complete the move was Toby Salmon for his double. 33-42. Was the comeback on? Two scores required!
The supporters were almost as spent as the players. A huge gallop through the middle by Hendersen and there was replacement flanker, Jon Vincent, to steam over. Toby Salmon made sure of the extras. 40-42.
However, Farnham could not break a late KCS stranglehold, and the win was not to be. The Black and Whites are getting stronger and stronger but conceding 21 unanswered points early in the game made the win almost, yes - almost, impossible.
While the 1st XV suffered that narrow defeat, Farnham’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th XVs were all engaged in their first round of league matches. The Vikings (2nd) opened their account with an impressive 29-34 away win over Camberley 2nd XV. At home the Warriors (3rd) enjoyed a resounding victory over Old Blues 2nd XV 48-8, while the Barbarians (4th) came a creditable second to Alton 2nd XV, 19-34. With an aggregate score of 139-113, the 72 men from Farnham Rugby can be well satisfied with their afternoon’s work.