Farnham 14pts, KCS Old Boys 41pts

When the unbeaten league leaders come to town you know you are going to have to be at the top of your game. This was the case at Farnham on Saturday.

KCS arrived for the fixture with a perfect record after six games, but for the first 26 minutes Farnham managed parity as the game was played at a frenetic pace both sides happy with ball in hand, and some of the back play was electric.

The visitors had the advantage of the strong, cold, northerly wind at their backs in the first half but elected to run virtually all of their possession. And in their first venture into the Farnham 22, disaster struck for the home side. Already suffering their worst injury list for years, with some 10 or 12 players absent or long term injured, Farnham endured another setback as Tobys Comley and Salmon clashed at the breakdown, forcing young playmaker Salmon off after just six minutes. With Scullion on at centre, Michael Salmon moved to fly half. During the transition, KCS went for the jugular and after a sustained and well-orchestrated attack Flanker Brodie Wilson cantered over the try line under the posts. Easy pickings for kicker du Toit gave KCS a 7-0 lead.

For almost 20 minutes Farnham then enjoyed their best period, sweeping attacks out wide through the back three speedsters Rich, Wigmore and Chalker, with the back row of Davidson, Mitchell and Comley in support - and the league leaders were pushed back. Salmon and Corlett pushed through the centre and earned a penalty to Farnham. Salmon kicked to the corner and an accurate lineout from new hooker Matt Kouris found the ever-reliable Ben Adams. The maul rumbled prompted by the irrespressible Oli Brown, who enjoyed a great tussle all game with Slater, his counterpart. He was held but transferred the ball to Salmon on the charge who, though tackled three yards short, managed a superb off-load pass to James Corlett to complete a fine team try. Michael Salmon kicked the extras and the teams were level at 7-7 after 15 minutes.

Farnham kept up the pressure for another 10 minutes, but annoying mistakes, knock-ons and turnovers disrupted their flow. KCS, meanwhile, were starting to click into gear and, ominously, starting to kick for field position. And with fly-half Cook pulling the strings for successive attacks, KCS kicked a penalty to the corner. A simple lineout catch and unstoppable drive put second row Parker in for the try as KCS led 12-7.

Inside three minutes a repeat in the opposite corner resulted in a well-constructed and controlled driving maul. Prop Williams claimed the spoils and a superb touchline conversion in the swirling wind from du Toit padded the leaders’ lead to 19-7.

The visitors were now in top gear, playing almost sevens-type rugby and attacking from deep. The Farnham defence was under pressure right across the field, and despite battling hard no cracks appeared. And Stoppani went over in the corner to push the KCS lead out to 24-7.

With half-time approaching, KCS poured forward again, the Farnham tackle count increasing with every break. A penalty and a kick to the corner resulted in another catch-and-drive try for second row Parker, which du Toit duly converted for a 31-7 interval lead.

The second half was a similar tale exacerbated by the increasing dominance of the KCS scrum and their impressive power in the mauls. As in their last three games, Farnham started to go backward at an alarming rate, with No 8 Rob Mitchell forced to dig deeper into a retreating pack to recover the ball. But just five minutes into the period he managed to fish the ball out of a disintegrating five-metre scrum to make hard yards. Quickly recycled ball saw Oli Brown loop a delightful pass out to winger Joe Wigmore for a welcome score, Michael Salmon converted with a huge touchline conversion as Farnham reduced the arrears to 31-14.

Still Farnham attacked but they were pushed back time after time, the scrum dominance taking its toll on the home forwards. And that tiredness and pressure told and a penalty for KCS saw Cook kick to the corner where a catch and drive resulted in Staunton picking up a try for a 36-14 lead. And KCS added one more score, again a catch and drive, despite Banks-Thomas, Kouris and Joris, backed by Matt Pritchard and Ben Adams, scrapping for every inch in the scrum.

On Saturday, Farnham travel to face Old Reigatians in London South West 2 (kick-off 2.30pm).