Farnham Rugby Club fell to a 45-31 defeat at Tottonians in Regional Two South Central.

The game was evenly poised for the opening five minutes before the home side grabbed the first score when their scrum half scored under the posts.

Farnham bounced back well with some good attacking phases. Big carries from Harrison Horner and Finn Basil gave the Black and Whites momentum and good field position in the opposition 22. The ball was released to the backs with Ollie Brown finding Max Williams, who stepped inside to score under the posts to make it 7-7.

Tottonians’ next score came off a well-executed play that saw both wingers link up to score next to the posts. A few minutes later some good interplay saw another line break, and after a few offloads Tottonians’ left winger finished well in the corner to make it 21-7.

A penalty 35 metres out gave Farnham a chance to narrow the gap and Ben Jones slotted it over to reduce the score to 21-10. Farnham then had the ball in the Tottonians half in a good attacking position. A half break from Brown and an offload to Chris Durringer put Farnham in behind but the final pass didn’t go to hand. Tottonians picked up the loose ball and broke clear with their centre going over for the home team’s bonus-point try. The hosts led 28-10 at half-time.

A penalty 30 metres out allowed Tottonians to extend their lead to 31-10. However, Farnham came straight back and strung together slick phases across the pitch that tested the fitness of the big Totts pack. Josh Watson broke the gain line and the ball was swiftly recycled to the pack where Brown found a gap in the defence and scurried through to dot down under the posts and make it 31-17.

Tottonians then went over off a powerful scrum for their next score to lead 38-17.

Harrison Horner then got Farnham close to the line, and as the balled spilled out of the tackle Marcus Lambert-Parsons was on hand to dive over for the score to make it 38-24.

Tottonians managed the game well in the closing stages and relied on their large forwards to grind down the Farnham defence. A close-range score from the replacement prop put the game beyond the visitors’ reach at 45-24.

Farnham’s pressure on the Tottonians defence told when Jones sliced through before releasing Basil, who handed off the cover defence to score the bonus-point try.