Farnham 32pts, Old Reigatian 8pts

Farnham welcomed old friends and rivals Old Reigatians on Saturday – and scored a seventh consecutive win to continue to sit proudly atop London 2 South West.

The two clubs have grown and developed in parallel over the past ten years and invariably produce close and fiercely-fought contests. This encounter was no exception but sadly ended in controversial circumstances and, for some, a sour atmosphere.

The pitch was sodden and incessant rain fell as the teams lined up for a minute’s silence to remember the wartime fallen. The scene was set for an old-fashioned, wet-weather battle.

Farnham kicked off toward the nursery end to launch the early sparring that was on equal terms. Both sides had talented, physical forwards and speedy, inventive backs, but gradually Farnham asserted an element of control.

The kick-and-chase game from the back three pushed the visitors back into their own marshland of a 22. Jack Scullion, the Cornish full back with a kick like a mule, backed by flying wingers Reece Stennett and Tom Cerullo hassled and hustled the Old Reigatians defence. They won a penalty and Scullion kicked to the corner.

Ben Brown, the hooker, has worked hard on his throwing and picked out prime jumper Ben Adams on the five-metre line. With the maul set, Farnham smuggled the ball back to Liam Welch at No8 and drove aggressively for the line. Welch plunged over for the first score of the afternoon and a 5-0 lead as the conversion was missed by Toby Salmon in difficult, slippery conditions.

The Reigatian boys battled back but Farnham held the upper hand. Marco Azevado, Jules Joris and Ben Adams led the breakouts, backed by Rob Mitchell with the back row of Toby Comley, Liam Welch and Andrew Kidd. With second rower Ben Adams often at first receiver, the plan was direct and aggressive – drive up the middle through centres Michael Salmon and Declan Kavanagh supported by Welch who, in particular, marauded at pace and covered virtually the whole of the pitch.

On 28 minutes Farnham repeated their previously successful move. Scullion kicked a penalty to the corner where an accurate catch-and-drive allowed that man Welch to barrel over for his second try of the day. The backs joined in on the maul to up their involvement levels and claim that they helped – a bit!

Trailing 10-0 with half time on the horizon, Old Reigatians launched a series of multi-pronged attacks. It resulted in desperate defence from the black and whites and a yellow card for Ben Adams, who was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on to deflect the Old Reigatian pass. An easy three points for Reigatian followed as they cut the deficit to 10-3 at the break after an energy-sapping first half.

Still the rain fell as both sides probed for the advantage at the start of the second half and Farnham, with 14 men, struggled to keep the visitors at bay. They needed a spark but Old Reigatian were determined to drive home their advantage. Sweeping out to the left, the visiting fly half spotted the Farnham right wing isolated and put in an inch-perfect cross-field kick for the score to cut the gap to 10-8 with all to play for.

The pace quickened and the tackles upped in intensity. Hooker Ben Brown went down with a broken nose and prop Joris left the fray with a recurrence of an old injury. Farnham had no replacement front rowers left with Andy Naisbitt and Connor Haynes already on the field. The outcome was the dreaded and much-maligned unopposed scrum. Imagine the frustration as 16 fully grown, testosterone-driven men leant on each other. The temperature rose.

There is a rule for squads of 23 players that under these circumstances the side without the replacement front rower must remove a player from the field, thus giving the edge to the team with a full complement. The referee determined that rule did not apply to this game with squads of 18 and the game continued at 15-per-side.

The Reigatian coaching staff were incensed and there was the unedifying spectacle of a coach on the field of play on his phone to the league secretary to clarify the law. The young referee was unmoved having made his decision, but the atmosphere continued to deteriorate.

At this level of rugby the referee is the sole, isolated arbiter. Taken to its extreme a situation could arise, for example, in which a team continuously plays offside but the referee, from his perspective, deems them onside. Could the losing team lodge a complaint and demand the game void on the grounds that the referee was wrong? If so, the whole structure of our great game would be swept away.

Farnham took advantage of the disruption and raced away to a flattering 32-8 bonus-point win with superb breakout tries from Toby Salmon, who scored two, Dave Flower, and the coup de grace from Rob Mitchell converted by Toby Salmon.

That’s seven from seven for Farnham with the top-of-the-table clash at Battersea Ironsides coming up on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).

* Farnham fielded five senior sides last Saturday – four of them at home. The seconds came up just short 20-17 away to Horsham on their artificial pitch, the 3rd XV thrashed Guildfordians 72-0 at Monkton Lane, and the fourths played their first home game of the season, beating Hampshire 3 highflyers Locksheath Pumas 24-17. The Vets lost narrowly at Barnes Harrodian, 17-15.