IF Farnham took one step forward with their recent battling win over Reading Town, they have taken two big strides backwards with defeats against Walton Casuals and now North Greenford.
It was not just that they were beaten out out of sight by mid-table Greenford on Saturday, it was the manner of their defeat.
Farnham have always featured prominently in the Fair Play league, but their disciplinary record this season grows worse by the week.
They had two sent off at Walton the previous week and only the diplomatic withdrawal of two players spared them further probable red cards in this match.
Chris Evans was the worst culprit. Having given away a crass penalty at a vital stage in the first half, he was booked in the second period and seemed intent on arguing his way towards an early bath when manager Dave Ward pulled him off, along with Chris Castle who was flirting with a second successive red card.
Sitting where they are, third from bottom with three wins from 27 games, Town need to concentrate on their football, not argue with officials who are never going to change their mind anyway.
If they could have consolidated on their bright start against Greenford – Kevin Annetts, twice, and Castle both went close in the opening minutes– this could have been an evently-contested game.
Greenford took the lead on 17 minutes when Bobby Watson, who had just been publicly castigated by his own manager for a glaring miss, raced clear of a square defence and beat the advancing Daniel Vasey with a neat chip finish.
Even so, Farnham seemed to be holding their own, with the new central defensive pairing of Arnie Haskell and Courtney Clark beginning to find their feet.
But, on the half-hour, Simon Davis had his legs taken by Evans on the extremity of the penalty area and Watson duly converted to leave Farnham with a mountain to climb.
Although their 10 men had overturned a two-goal deficit at Reading two weeks before, there was no miraculous comeback this time, although Evans, from a quickly taken free-kick, amd Annetts, after a solo run, forced fine saves from Garry Jallow in the Greenford goal.
After half-time, Farnham had one golden chance to get back into the match. Matt Edwards swung in a dangerous free-kick, only for Graeme Miles to head wide from six yards with the goal at his mercy.
Ten minutes later, Greenford put the result beyond doubt. A long ball from Davis picked out Simon Whall who, with the home defence rooted to the spot, hooked a 22-yard shot that looped over Vasey and dipped sharply under the crossbar. No blame could be attached to Vasey who pulled off some good saves.
With five minutes left, he bravely parried a stinging shot from Scott Whall, but the ball rolled to the lurking Watson who played a callous cat-and-mouse game with defenders before tapping it over the line for his hat-trick goal.
At the other end, Jallow made the save of the match to tip a 25-yard scorcher from Annetts over the crossbar.
Farnham: Vasey, Brooks, Slessor, Clark, Haskell, Edwards, Castle (Hooper 75), Brown, Miles, Annetts, C Evans (Rivett 75). Sub (not used) Pike. Booked: Castle, Evans.
North Greenford: Jallow, Duffy, Murphy, Japp, Jarvis, Davis (Mockler 68), Scott Whall, Cornwall, Hill, Watson (Mills 85), Simon Whall. Sub (not used) Hawkins.