Farnham came into the game positive after their opening day victory against Bournemouth whereas Guildford were looking to bounce back after a close defeat to Andover. Farnham welcomed back the experienced duo of Jonny Vincent and Ollie Brown into the squad, in an otherwise unchanged team.

Guildford kicked off with Farnham choosing to play up the hill for the first half. The home side started the stronger of the two sides, getting their hands on the ball early however Farnham’s solid defence was in full force early on. The deadlock was broken just after the 10 minute mark when Jonny Vincent broke clear and burst into the Guildford 22. Sam Cowman recycled the ball quickly and Toby Salmon sliced through to score in the corner for Farnham’s first try. Conversion missed, 0-5. A kick straight out from the restart gave Farnham a good attacking scrum opportunity and Max Williams broke down the last to get Farnham into the 22. Several phases later Farnham moved the ball wide which found Tommy Allen who kicked in behind and Toby Simmons tackled the Guildford covering defender. He offloaded to his support but his rushed kick was charge down by Oscar Henderson who did well to regather the ball and score in the corner. Conversion missed, 0-10.

The next score was gift wrapped when a kick in behind was received by the Guildford centre and in the midst of getting tackled, produced a loose offload that was fielded by Oscar Henderson who sprinted clear untouched to dot down under the posts. Conversion successful, 0-17. Farnham kept the momentum going and were living in the Guildford half. A yellow card to the Guildford number 8 gave Farnham a bigger advantage and used their rolling maul and big forwards to grind down the Guildford defence. A scrum 5 meters out gave Farnham a great opportunity and Oscar Henderson picked from the base and powered over to complete his hat-trick. Conversion successful, 0-24. Guildford did manage to get some possession however the Farnham defence was strong with Jack Bemelmans, Greg Franzel and Shawa Rai leading it with some powerful tackles. The final play of the half was a lovely Farnham try, created by Jonny Vincent who broke the line before drawing the fullback to find Toby Simmons on the right wing with his dummy pass successful fooling 2 defenders which allowed him to sprint clear and score under the posts. Conversion successful and Farnham lead 0-31 at HT.

The 2nd half was always going to be more difficult with Guildford coming out firing and trying to get back into the game. Their rolling maul was well handled by Farnham and both centres, Fin Sloan and Joey Wood kept them quiet in midfield. The home side however eventually get on the scoresheet when a loose Farnham pass was picked off by the Guildford winger who sprinted clear to score their first try. Conversion successful, 7-31. A turnover from Shawa Rai gave Farnham a great opportunity to score but the final pass from Salmon didn’t quite go to hand and the chance was missed. Guildford were competing hard at the breakdown and forced Farnham into conceding penalties and consequently field position.

Guildfords day got worse when a high tackle from their number 8 meant a 2nd yellow card meaning they would play the rest of the game with 14 men. Farnham got their 2nd half account underway when a rolling maul was stopped short, with Farnham keeping the play tight. A few phases later, Sam Voight picked from the base and powered over from short range for his first Farnham try. Conversion successful, 7-38. The final moments saw another comical moment when the ball was moved right to the Guidford winger who ran over the line but tried to beat Toby Salmon to score under the posts however the ball was managed to be held up. A moment that summed up Guildfords day. The full time whistle came moments later, 7-38.

A slightly scrappy 2nd half performance but the damage was done in a dominating first half display. The defence and set piece was brilliant again. A home clash against Winchester awaits next week which sets to be crucial fixture, even this early on in the season.

Presidents podium
3- Oscar Henderson
2- Jonny Vincent
1- Jack Bemelmans