Farnham scored a last-minute penalty to win 44-43 at Wimbledon in Regional One South Central.

Farnham travelled to Wimbledon on a sunny October afternoon looking to get back to winning ways.

Wimbledon kicked off and although the kick wasn’t clean, it bounced in space and a knock on forced a scrum.

The early exchanges were back and forth with both teams looking to start strongly. However, it was the hosts who struck first when their fullback broke through before being tackled five metres out. The ball was well recycled with Wimbledon’s left winger dotting down for the first try.

Farnham responded when Toby Simmons broke down the left and was stopped ten metres short. The ball was kept tight with Harry West finding the charging Harrison Horner, who easily dived over for his first try of the season.

Farnham continued to look threatening in attack and won a penalty 25 metres out in front of the posts, and Toby Salmon kicked it over for a 10-7 lead.

A scrum penalty allowed Farnham to kick for the corner and set up a rolling maul that was well managed and allowed Greg Franzel to dot down for the visitors’ second try.

Wimbledon looked threatening in attack and wore down the Farnham defence through consistent hard carrying, with their centre scoring in the left corner to make it 17-12.

A well-executed move left space for Simmons, who finished off well in the corner to make it 22-12.

Wimbledon scored their third try just before the break, but Farnham led 22-17 at half-time.

Farnham secured the try bonus point when Salmon broke down the left and found Jonny Vincent, who ran in under the posts for the fourth try.

The tries continued to go back and forth as the home team continued to cause problems in attack, and their number eight broke through several tackles and scored under the posts to make it 29-24.

Farnham responded well and won a breakdown penalty and kicked to the corner. Matt Kouris broke off the maul and was stopped ten metres short and after a few phases, Franzel thought he had scored again but the referee judged it to be knocked on.

Farnham again countered well and Simmons made yards down the right-hand side. The ball was moved down the line and Salmon finished off in the corner to make it 34-24.

Alex Young came on in the centres with Ollie Kirkpatrick and Marco Azevedo bolstering the pack. A lineout move was well worked and Young managed to shrug off a couple of defenders and run in for his first Farnham try to give some breathing room.

With 18 minutes left on the clock many thought the game was done, but Wimbledon thought otherwise.

The next 15 minutes were dominated by the home team as Farnham couldn’t contain their attack. A yellow card to Max Williams made things harder, with several Farnham players run off their feet.

Wimbledon scored three tries, with the final try run in under the posts to leave a simple conversion to put the hosts 43-41 ahead.

The referee awarded Farnham a penalty 40 metres out with 35 seconds to go. Salmon immediately opted for the posts and stepped up to kick the winning penalty and claim the full five points.

By Toby Salmon