Farnham fell to a narrow 19-12 defeat at local rivals Camberley in Regional One South Central.

The early exchanges were physical with both teams looking to put their mark on the game.

The first 20 minutes were scoreless, however the first Farnham maul charged on for more than 20 metres before Camberley stopped it illegally. Farnham kicked to the corner and went for the maul again. The initial shove was stopped short however Marco Azevedo powered over shortly afterwards to give Farnham the first try of the game.

Camberley came back and got their first score when their winger dotted down in the right-hand corner for an unconverted try.

Another penalty then allowed Farnham to kick to the corner. The driving maul was well-executed and Sam Voight dotted down for his first try of the season to give Farnham a 12-5 lead at half-time.

Farnham had the conditions in their favour going into the second half.

The visitors dominated territory and created plenty of opportunities, but couldn’t convert their dominance into points. A knock-on before the line saw an opportunity missed and a long pass from Toby Salmon seemed to put in Toby Simmons in the corner, but the referee judged the pass as forward.

Camberley kept up their physicality. A scrum inside their own half presented them with an opportunity and the ball was moved to their right winger who beat a couple of Farnham defenders and sprinted clear under the posts to make it 12-12.

The hosts had their tails up and put some attacking phases together. They got in behind and their right winger dotted down to put Camberley 19-12 up.

Farnham kept fighting and created chances, but the hosts saw out the remaining minutes to secure their first win of the season.

Farnham will host league leaders Jersey on Saturday, October 4.

By Toby Salmon