Bagshot 4, Farnham Town 1

TWO goals in each half was enough for hosts Bagshot to pick up the three points in a game where Farnham were outplayed from start to finish and lacked any creativity, structure or consistency.

First-half goals from Sam Taylor and Edward Cardona were coupled with a penalty from Lekan Osideko and Alex Jeffers in the second half to condemn promotion-chasing Town to a second successive defeat after last Tuesday night’s surprising 1-0 loss at home to struggling Cove at the Memorial Ground.

“The result was the right result, Bagshot deserved it,” said disappointed Town boss Luke Turkington. “There wasn’t much in it in terms of the two teams but they outshone us in terms of grit and determination and that is something we have to work on.

“We have deserved to get nothing out of only two games that I’ve seen all season and Saturday was one of them.

“What I’m more upset about is that you can’t teach the bits where the players have to roll up their sleeves and just show a bit of grit and determination. I couldn’t see that on Saturday and that’s really worrying because we have a chance to get promoted and to win the league, so it’s a little bit disappointing to see thus far that they haven’t shown a side of their character that I would have expected some of them to have.”

Bagshot entered the game having recorded just two points from their last five league games. Farnham, meanwhile, were looking to return to winning ways following Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat against Cove.

New signing Adam Guess, from Woking, started between the sticks for Farnham Town and it wouldn’t have been the debut he would have hoped for, but he has to be praised for his rapid distribution despite being beaten twice inside the first 15 minutes.

The home side grabbed an early goal, with Taylor striking it from halfway inside Farnham’s half and watching the ball loop over the head of debutant Guess for Bagshot’s first.

Minutes later and Bagshot capitalised on some poor defending from a set piece. The source of their second came from an inswinging free kick that landed at the back post where Edward Cardona squeezed his header in at an acute angle.

Farnham were given a lifeline on 18 minutes, when Elliot Cardona was pushed in the back and took a tumble in the box. Despite Farnham finding the back of the net just as the whistle blew, the referee insisted on awarding the penalty and striker Charlie Horwood duly smashed the ball home off the underside of the crossbar.

Despite being somewhat off colour, Town weren’t shy of chances in the first half. Luke Medcraft directed a header wide of the target from a corner by Rowan Sharratt while Kye Nash’s cross dipped at the back post but Cardona could only make contact with his shin pad.

Farnham edged closer to equalising but Bagshot did well to bundle bodies in the line of fire, and Cardona got a rush of adrenaline as he got a shot away, seeing it zoom wide of the left-hand post. This after Farnham skipper Ed Scurfield smashed his thunderous strike against the body of a Bagshot defender.

But Bagshot effectively sealed the game when they bagged their third in the 54th minute as the visitors conceded a penalty, seemingly for handball. Farnham stopper Guess dived the right way but couldn’t stop Osideko’s shot going in.

Osideko then troubled the Farnham goal again, but Harry Oakley acted as the last line of defence to block the shot.

As the clock continued to tick down, Farnham had just about sufficient time for two more decent chances. Pat Cox skipped off the shoulder of the last defender before pulling the trigger, only for the Bagshot goalkeeper to agonizingly make the save with his legs, and Oakley claimed Farnham’s last notable chance of the afternoon, with his headed shot being stopped on the goal line.

And with just seconds left of normal time, Bagshot signed off with their fourth courtesy of a volley by Jeffers to end a frustrating day at the office for Turkington.

The defeat also proved to be a major stain on Farnham’s otherwise exemplary defensive record ahead of games against fellow title chasers Epsom & Ewell (Saturday) and Sheerwater (February 9).

“(You concede) 14 goals in the first 18 games we play and then you concede four. It was a bit of a shock to the system,” admitted Turkington.

“We could have said that Tuesday night (against Cove) was a surprising result but Saturday was a result where we didn’t deserve to get anything out of the game. It’s annoying because realistically these were some of the games in hand we had to try to bring the top teams back to us, yet we’ve just made it a more difficult mountain to climb.”

But far from being disheartened, Turkington is more determined than ever to get back on track with six games still to play against the current top four in Division One – starting with Saturday’s tricky trip to fourth-placed Epsom & Ewell, who lie five points ahead of Farnham having played three games more.

“The next two games are against teams who are battling for promotion as well, and those two games could determine our season,” he said. “If we lose on Saturday it will be three losses on the bounce and people will start to question our mentality. We are putting ourselves under pressure. But our record against sides in the top six has been good.”

Town could be boosted on Saturday by the potential return of talismanic leader Kay Conteh, who has been out since December with a broken arm, and Kylo Atkinson, who has been missing for several weeks after suffering the after-effects of a dead leg.

“I treat every game as a cup final and we are going to give it everything we’ve got to get the results that we need,” vowed the likeable Town boss.

“Let’s just hope that we can bounce back from this shocking week!”

Farnham Town: Guess, Meaton, L Medcraft, Sharratt, Scurfield, Oakley, Nash (Page 52), N Medcraft (Gillet 68), Cox, Horwood (Falvey 77), Cardona. Subs (not used): Peck, Smith.