FARNHAM 31, ANDOVER 33

FARNHAM hope to make Monkton Lane a fortress on their return to London 2 South-West, but Andover knocked the ramparts down in the very first game.

Fielding a much-changed side to the one that won both league and Senior Vase in the tumultuous climax to last season, Farnham struggled against a well-organised Andover who have enjoyed success in the higher leagues in recent years.

Only seven of the Twickenham heroes took to the pitch and although Farnham began brightly with multi-phase possession, Andover took the lead against the run of play, fly-half Jonny Rogers putting Simon Preece in for the first try, converted by Rogers.

Farnham’s reply was swift as they won possession from the kick-off. Hooker Jonny Davidson went on a charge and Ollie Brown’s sniping run put Ed Weeks over for a well-worked try, converted by Toby Salmon.

Both sides were making early-season handling errors. Andover regained the lead with a Richard Retallick penalty, Toby Salmon cancelled it out with a try that he also converted, but with Farnham’s penalty count rising, Retallick added three more points.

The sides continued to trade blows. A catch-and-drive move led by new skipper Andy Naisbitt and Jules Joris culminated with Pete Daly going over wide out. Farnham promptly conceded another penalty and Charlie Waite this time landed a 45-metre shot.

Half-time arrived with the sides locked together at 19-19.

With rain now sweeping across the pitch, Farnham got their noses in front from another lineout catch-and-drive, with Andrew Bond sending Daly over in the corner; 24-19 with the conversion missed.

Andover made a vital move when they sent on Josh Middleton for his first-team debut. The scrum-half made a real difference, not least when he released Ioan Gwynne Davies for a converted try.

Farnham then had replacement hooker Oliver Banks-Thomson sin-binned and with their opponents down to 14, Andover were awarded a penalty try after three successive scrums to take a 33-24 lead.

Farnham responded by throwing everything at the Hampshire side and Toby Salmon crossed over after sustained pressure and added the conversion to reduce the deficit to two points.

With the clock ticking down, a penalty gave Farnham the chance to make ground for the winning score, but the wind caught the kick and the ball went dead. Game over.

Not the result Farnham wanted ahead of a tough local derby at Camberley this Saturday.

Farnham Podium Points: Toby Salmon 3, Jonny Davidson 2, Oli Brown 1.