Farnham Town 6, Kensington Borough 0

IN-FORM Farnham Town began the new year in fine style with a 6-0 thumping of Kensington Borough at the Memorial Ground on Saturday.

Having ended 2018 on a good note with a comfortable 3-0 win at Ash United, Town made it two wins out of two by demolishing their west London visitors.

The win – Town’s seventh in home games this season – keeps Farnham in fifth place but with plenty of games in hand on the teams around them to make a concerted promotion push and seal a place back at the top table of the Combined Counties League.

“We finished last year pretty well but we’ve started the new year with an absolute flyer,” said happy Town boss Luke Turkington, who was delighted with a second consecutive clean sheet.

“No goals conceded is a big thing. We’ve got one of the best defensive records in the league and we’re really proud of that. Sometimes it can be worth an extra point in a tight league.

“I was really pleased with the performance and the goal difference could be a key factor in the race for the title.”

Turkington was delighted to see his side make a dazzling start with two goals in the first ten minutes to put Kensington Borough firmly on the back foot.

“We put a lot of emphasis on starting with electric pace because if you can start well you can kill a game off early. I was really pleased to get two goals in the first 10 minutes because it allowed the lads to relax and play and push on and get the result,” he said.

“We’ve now had two wins on the trot and are hoping for a hat-trick on Saturday and hope the winning mentality kicks in so that we can keep grinding out results and avoid any potential banana skins.”

Despite sitting in the lower reaches of the table, Kensington were probably the more vocal of the two sides in the opening minutes, but Town soon got a foot hold in the game and steadily grew in confidence.

Ed Scurfield led out a Farnham side which possessed pace and creativity in the form of Nick Medcraft and Danny Turner, and boasted both height and a strong aerial presence up top, with Charlie Horwood supercharging Town’s attack.

With the game just eight minutes old, the home side opened the scoring as a Nick Medcraft header rolled into the bottom left-hand corner.

And they didn’t have long to wait for their second goal as Borough were left stunned just 60 seconds later.

The source of Farnham’s second came in the consistently dominant presence of Elliot Cardona. Turner crossed for Cardona, who rose and outpowered the leaping defender, leaving the Kensington goalkeeper flapping at thin air.

And Farnham effectively put the game to bed with a third goal on 23 minutes as they capitalised on some sloppy defending from the Londoners. Turner received the ball to his feet, spun his man who lost his balance and allowed the Farnham danger man to fire the ball low into the bottom corner.

It was a touch of class, with Turner keeping his composure as he confidently despatched the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts a handsome half-time lead. And it was a lead they doubled within the first seven breathtaking minutes of the second half to snuff out any hopes of an unlikely Borough comeback.

Within a minute of the restart, the hosts made it four. Nick Medcraft pulled off a beauty, with his shot dipping under the crossbar. He left the bar rattling, the ball bouncing the right side of the goal line, and within seconds he was correctly credited with the goal by the officials.

Next, Cardona produced a goal of real quality courtesy of an inch-perfect shot which whistled into the top right corner, leaving the Kensington stopper with no chance of making a save.

And Town wrapped up a comfortable 6-0 league win from the penalty spot.

Kye Nash was clattered inside the box and the referee had no hesitation in pointing straight to the spot. Up stepped an assertive Charlie Horwood, firing the ball right-footed and low into the bottom right corner.

The home side even flirted with a seventh in the final few minutes but Cardona skied his close-range effort high over the bar before seeing another effort ruled out for offside.

Farnham Town: Birchnall, L Medcraft, Smith, Sharratt (Greenwood 45), Scurfield (Falvey 75), Oakley, Nash, N Medcraft, Horwood (Peck 65), Turner, Cardona. Subs (not used): Harper.

* On Saturday, Farnham Town are away to British Airways, who groundshare with Bedfont & Feltham at The Orchard (kick-off 3pm).