Farnham 39pts, Old Cranleighans 10pts

WITH a combined age of 76, the Farnham centre pairing of Jemi Akin Olugbade and James Corlett ooze class and experience. And it was very much in evidence as Farnham finally overcame huge Old Cranleighians resistance and put them to the sword in the last quarter of the match.

On the hour the score was only 17-10 to Farnham thanks to three first-half tries from Corlett, Reece Stennett and Toby Salmon, plus a conversion. The visitors had battled hard and attacked with ball in hand, playing the type of rugby Farnham knew they were capable of. Games against the Old Cranleighans over the past five or six years have always been perilously close, often decided by one late score, and this one looked like going the same way.

In perfect conditions Farnham enjoyed a dream start, receiving the ball at the kick-off and gradually turning the exit into a full-blown, length-of-the-field, swarming attack prompted by scrum half tyro Rhys Bassett and captain Buster Bond. Cranleighians began to fall off tackles which allowed Corlett to nip over for the opening score. Toby Salmon curled the conversion in from the touchline for a 7-0 lead, his only kicking success of the half with all the subsequent tries being scored out wide, a testament to the Old Cranleighans defence.

The visitors settled into their fast, direct, ball-in-hand rugby and made inroads into the resolute Farnham defence. Eliot Rich, Stennett and Ben Jones, the Farnham back three, always tackle way above their weight (often to their cost) and this was no exception. Attack after attack from the Cranleighians was met with force.

The Cranleighians try, when it inevitably came, was down to persistence and nature. Winger Conor Brown launched a speculative chip kick which drifted over the touchline and then miraculously caught on the wind, allowing an easy run in as the Farnham defence was caught on the wrong foot. With the conversion successful, the scores were level at 7-7.

The sheer pace of the game and the intensity at the breakdown began to ramp up the handling errors and the pressure led to poor decisions. Something had to give and a direct rampage by prop Marco Azevado through the middle drew in the Old Cranleighans defence to free up winger Stennett who set off on a mazy run to score in the corner.

Back poured the Cranleigh boys, spurred on by their talisman flanker Tom Board who, much to Farnham’s frustration, managed three turnovers in as many minutes. With Farnham offside at the next ruck, they picked up easy points from the penalty to cut the gap to 12-10.

The unrelenting pace continued with the back rows scrapping for every ball. But, as expected, Old Cranleighans weren’t going anywhere. End-to-end attack and defence meant even the spectators were anxious for a half-time breather. With the last throw of the first-half dice, Toby Salmon sniffed a half chance and burst through two tackles to score out wide. The missed conversion signalled the end to proceedings in an enthralling first 40 minutes as Farnham led 17-10.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was more of the same with a repeat of the full-on aggressive, pacey and intense rugby as high-speed collision followed speedy attack. But as the hour mark approached, the Farnham faithful sensed a change in momentum. Old Cranleighans were beginning to flag as Olugbade burst through a gap to score in the corner. This was followed almost immediately by a sweeping attack culminating in Ben Jones scoring out wide and suddenly Farnham’s lead had grown to 27-10 and, with the visitors on the ropes, Farnham went for the knockout. The not- inconsiderable presence of Oli Thompson on the charge freed up Comley to put Reece Stennett over for his second try. A superb touchline conversion from Toby Salmon and Farnham were home and hosed at 34-10 having doubled their score in 10 minutes. As the clock ran down, Farnham launched their final attack through the vintage pair, Corlett on to Olugbade who made the space to free up Salmon who floated an audacious overhead pass to Ben Adams out wide to finish a superb team performance.

The win moves Farnham up to third in the league. After being bulldozed out of the cup by Old Colfeians, the first XV have a blank day next Saturday and return to league action on December 1 with a trip to second-placed Old Alleynians.