FARNHAM had played quite well when losing to league leaders Wallingford three weeks before, but it was back to square one on Saturday when they succumbed to mid-table Chessington United with barely a whimper.

The lay-off clearly did not help, but Farnham were particularly inept and gave a a performance that would have had manager Dave Ward tearing his hair out, if he had any to tear.

No fluency, no real game plan and not much gumption either, with a moderate Chessington side being allowed to boss the game as they liked.

True, Ward was still missing key players to injury and more hobbled off in this game. But it was painfully obvious that most of the players were not up to the standard required in the tough CCL.

There were exceptions of course. Vince Decicco and Arnie Haskell battled manfully in the over-worked Town defence, Kevin Annetts was full of running and Ross Moore showed the occasional touch of skill.

But there were lapses too many to list, and one of the worst resulted in the visitors taking the lead after 11 minutes.

Following a weak back-pass by Decicco, Haskell made a goal-saving tackle on Wayne Hardwick. But Farnham 'switched off' at the resulting corner, enabling Rob Parmenter to play a quick one-two and then cross for an unmarked Hardwick to head in off the post.

The first half was nothing if not eventful.

Farnham were thrown a lifeline a minute later when Peter Pike was scythed down by Danny Heath and Annetts drove home the penalty to level the scores.

Chessington's first attack after the restart almost resulted in an own goal and then the visitors snatched back the lead with 15 minutes on the clock.

Farnham lost possession in their own half and Hardwick's nicely weighted pass sent Dave Whitehead racing clear to drive the ball under Chris Rye in the Farnham goal.

After 20 minutes, Farnham protested furiously when Rye was adjudged to have upended Hardwick when he seemed to have clearly made contact with the ball first. Referee Gareth Mays showed his inconsistency by flourishing a yellow card, but justice was perhaps done because Rye made a good save to keep out Joe Leonard's penalty.

For a brief spell, Farnham promised better things, keeping possession sensibly as half-time approached, although not making much progress into the box.

There was a sweetly struck volley from young Moore and then, after a sweeping movement started by Haskell's strong challenge, Pike crossed accurately for Graeme Miles to test Dan Andrews with a firm header.

But Chessington needed just one minute of the second half to reassert their authority. Farnham failed to cut out a long ball from the left and the sharp Whitehead hooked his shot over a helpless Rye.

Four minutes later, Whitehead muscled the ball off Danny Brown and squared for Hardwick to score at his leisure.

Farnham were left to play for pride as Chessington coasted the rest of the game, but the fight seemed to have gone out of them. A comical mis-kick in front of goal by Miles just about summed their afternoon.

It was left to Haskell to sound a note of defiance when he met Brown's free-kick with a thunderous header, but straight into Andrews' arms.

Where do Farnham go from here? Cove and Viking, the two sides marooned at the bottom of the table, both lost again and, barring a miraculous improvement in form, will stay there.

But Farnham, with just two wins in 25 games, must improve their own abysmal record if only to reward the loyal fans who continue to support them through thick and thin. They could certainly do with a result against Chipstead at the Memorial Ground this Saturday (3 pm).

Farnham: Rye, R Moore (Brooks 56 mins), Pike, Haskell, Decicco (Wheeler 47 mins), Slessor (Hooper 73 mins), Castle, Brown, Annetts, Miles, Grimes. Booked: Rye.

Chessington Utd: Andrews, White, O'Sullivan, Barnes, Heath, McCullagh, Leonard, Parmenter (Perkins 79 mins), Whitehead, Marecheau (Norman 82 mins), Hardwick (Lloyd 73 mins). Booked: O'Sullivan.