Farnham were soundly beaten on Saturday by a very different Barnes side to the one that was thumped at Wrecclesham earlier in the season.
In fact, Farnham would have had to have played out of their skins to have slain Barnes – they were that good.
Forget the scoreline – this was a Farnham performance full of encouraging and positive aspects. The forwards again scrummaged exceptionally well and operated an effective, if rather predictable lineout.
The mauling, too, was impressive and the service supplied by Ed Walters to the back division was outstanding. In the tight, Farnham stole ball, turned their men and generally caused the home side plenty of trouble. However, this does not beat an outfit like Barnes who now head the league table, although Richmond have games in hand.
But the Farnham negatives were as numerous. They spent at least 20 minutes in the Barnes 22, and scored just one try (Neil Jarrett, with an assist apparently from Richard Doran).
The pack must be more clinical. Scrums are rarely driven over the line and there are not many referees who will award penalty tries for constant collapsing and wheeling of the scrum when games are tight.
In any case, penalty tries are not what Farnham want to score. They need a penalty move that is going to work when lineouts and scrums are not. They need a penetrating back division.
Several regular first-teamers, were missing on Saturday and many others were playing out of position, but the ability to create space and beat your man at least twice per game is essential.
Tackling...no excuses.
This is not exclusively aimed at Saturday's performance. The game simply highlighted problems that have been there for most of the season, but have been countered by a flash of brilliance from Simon Lewis or a big trundle from the pack.
After their powerful start to the season, Farnham look to be safe in this division and will be able to build on the obvious talent that exists in the squad.
Farnham: Cranstone, Christie (Conlon), Mortimore, Baker, Debenham (Holwill), Doran, Brown, Falkiner, Walters, Lewis, Jarrett, Turnbull, Lovell, Amos (Symon), Hill.