FARNHAM TN 1, BINFIELD 2

THERE was a good crowd and a great atmosphere at the Memorial Ground on Saturday, but Farnham Town were edged out of the FA Cup by a strong Binfield side, despite the visitors being reduced to ten men midway through the second half

The Hellenic Premier League side – likely promotion contenders this season – enjoyed ample possession in the early stages, yet it was Farnham who almost scored first, Kay Conteh blasting wide from close range.

But the Berkshire outfit looked more assured on the ball and took the lead on 12 minutes. A lofted ball out wide was kept in by winger Jemal Johnson and his hard-driven cross fell to Ian Davies who found space to calmly beat the advancing Stuart Norman.

More careless defending allowed Binfield to double their lead in the 27th minute. A corner was played short to Carlo Santoro and with defenders making no effort to close him down, he had room to curl a fantastic strike into the top corner.

Farnham seemed on course for a heavy defeat, but they made a bright start to the second half and began to ask questions of the Binfield back four.

On 72 minutes, the referee was in a great position to point to the spot after James Knight’s diving handball kept out a goalbound shot. Much to the dismay of the visiting bench, the Binfield skipper was shown a red card, after which Charlie Horwood stroked home his second penalty in two games.

A fired-up Farnham camped in the Binfield half for the remaining 20 minutes, but were unable to seriously test the keeper.

Max Meaton had the best chance to equalise, but his touch inside the penalty area was a tad heavy and Binfield hung on to progress into the next round.

However, it had been an excellent second-half effort by Luke Turkington’s side.

• Farnham host Combined Counties newcomers British Airways this Saturday, hoping to make it back-to-back wins. On Tuesday, Farnham make the short trip to Sandhurst.