ALTHOUGH the sun was shining in Sunbury on Saturday, it appeared that Lady Luck was not smiling on Farnham who suffered their first league defeat in controversial circumstances.

Sunbury surprisingly elected to field in the heat, but the decision paid immediate dividends as Richard Norman became the first victim of a pitch of uncertain bounce.

The batsmen had to be watchful throughout to cope with the inconsistencies. Alan Thorpe and Tom Hicks showed the way with a determined stand of 79, aided by some lacklustre fielding. As is so often the case though, one wicket followed another and Hicks followed Thorpe in quick succession to two of four lbw decisions given to off-spinner Matt Todd.

Todd proved why he is currently holding down a contract at The Oval with his impressively flighted and controlled bowling, which earned him 8 for 46.

Todd apart, Farnham were coping well and Gary Clapham and Peter Dickinson built another useful stand.

The match turned when Clapham, who had already deposited veteran Page over the pavilion, was adjudged leg before to a ball that seemed to clearly pitch outside leg-stump. This was harsh on the former skipper, whose new, more measured approach is paying dividends.

Farnham were still in a good position, but the late order crumbled to a mixture of good bowling and odd shot selection. Daniel Kirkland, for the second week running, showed some resilience at the end to give his side some hope with a score of 172.

But when Sunbury replied it was a case of the blue touch-paper ignited as South African Jason De Reuck smashed the ball to all parts for 54 in just 32 balls, with even Dickinson unable to escape the carnage. This innings separated the sides and it was a bitter pill for the visitors to swallow when he appeared to have edged a catch behind before he had scored.

It was a key moment in the game because later, when wickets were falling regularly, it seemed that captain Richard Gould's worries about the frailty of his batting were well founded.

Kirkland and Harpreet Singh, interrupting his Charterhouse duties for a one-off appearance, bowled fine spells of spin and the game was in the balance with Sunbury needing 27 at the fall of the seventh wicket fell.

A seemingly good catch by Norman at slip had Farnham scenting blood, but again the batsman was given the benefit and Sunbury ran out winners to leave Farnham frustrated and empty-handed.

A local derby at home to Farncombe this Saturday provides the ideal chance for an immediate comeback.