Farnham 39pts, Twickenham 5pts

EXPLOSIVE from the first whistle, Farnham overran shell-shocked Twickenham and effectively had the game wrapped up by the end of the first quarter.

For the faithful on the touchline at Monkton Lane it was the best period of attacking rugby for a number of seasons: fast, accurate and overwhelming.

And pretty much in control for the entire game, Farnham eventually ran out 39-5 winners.

Having received the kick off, Farnham launched a series of multi-phased attacks with quick ball for wingers Reece Stennett and Eliot Rich, who both have pace to burn and the ability to wriggle and squirm through tackles. And Farnham were on the front foot from the very first minute. The back row of Jordan Frost, Rob Mitchell and Toby Comley were the arch predators, offering support and power at every opportunity with skipper Oli Brown calling the shots at scrum half. The result was an electric display for the sizeable crowd.

With Twickenham pulled left and right and the pace increasing, Michael Salmon put fellow centre James Corlett through a gap for the first try. Easy extras for Toby Salmon made it 7-0 after just 90 seconds.

The Black and Whites swept forward from the restart and the referee, on the spot, adjudged some skulduggery but allowed the advantage. Second row Steve Simmons was held up short of the line so the referee pulled play back for the penalty which allowed Toby Salmon to increase the lead to 10-0.

The appetite for flowing, accurate rugby was epitomised by the number of carries made by the front row union of Marco Azevado, Matt Kouris and the evergreen Jules Joris. They demanded the ball and smashed out the hard yards, and their endeavour was rewarded in the 12th minute when No8 Rob Mitchell picked off an overthrown Twickenham lineout and drove toward the line.

He was held but the momentum was sustained by Joris and Kouris who delivered quick ball to Brown and on to Toby Salmon. Elusive and strong, Salmon barged over before converting his own try to take the score to 17-0.

Coaches Alex Chisholm and Max Crompton urged their charges on to greater deeds and they were soon rewarded as the second-row engine room fired up out wide with Ben Adams and Simmons driving through the shell-shocked visitors’ defence. Farnham then went up through the gears to full back Ben Jones who delivered a superb offload to No8 Mitchell who was unstoppable and went over under the posts, providing Toby Salmon with a formality of a conversion and a 24-0 lead after just 21 minutes.

Sport, with all its foibles, is often difficult to fathom. Farnham continued to attack for the remainder of the half but, to the frustration of the old heads in the crowd, seemed to carry the ball that yard too far or delay the pass a split second too long. Nevertheless, Twickenham were permanently under pressure and on the rare moments they ventured into the Farnham half, the home wraparound defence proved too efficient for them.

The high spot of the second quarter was the round of applause for ‘veteran’ prop Joris, who completed his shift and handed over to Oli Thompson.

In the early stages of the second half, Farnham got on the wrong side of the referee and the penalty count rose, the frustration mounted and the game became niggly and untidy. Twickenham also started to look threatening.

But a Farnham attack was thwarted illegally which meant an easy three points for Toby Salmon and a 27-0 lead but still in search of the try bonus point. Comley was then sent to the bin for a relatively innocuous high tackle.

The visitors, who to their credit never gave up the fight, took their chance against the depleted home pack and drove over for a consolation try to cut the gap to 27-5.

But that was to be Twickenham’s final contribution to the score, as first Farnham hooker Matt Kouris burrowed over for the precious bonus-point score then, as the clock ran down, man-of-the-match Mitchell battled his way to the posts for his second try which Toby Salmon converted to end the scoring.

The first 20 minutes or so were breathtaking – pacey, powerful, accurate and innovative – and Farnham were just too well organised for their top four rivals. The win gives Farnham a four-point cushion in second place in the league.

On Saturday, Farnham make the trip to face unbeaten runaway league leaders KCS Old Boys.