Eastleigh 22pts, Farnham 26pts

FARNHAM travelled to Eastleigh on Saturday to lay a bogey.

Eastleigh is always a tough place to travel to and not many teams come away with a bonus-point win – but that’s exactly what Farnham did.

The Hampshire boys have started the season well with three wins out of a possible four – all of them close affairs. Farnham were looking to make it six wins from six matches in both league and cup fixtures.

It promised to be the usual Eastleigh welcome – lots of edge, the pack on the hunt, and their mongrels scavenging for every ball on a pitch that was boggy from the vast amount of rain throughout the week.

Clear skies with only the slightest breeze set the scene as Eastleigh kicked off. Farnham’s forwards set the tone from the onset by carrying and tackling hard, as they did throughout the game. The front row of Marco Azevado, Ben Brown and Aussie Jules Joris smashed back the driving home forwards around the fringes. A balanced second row of Ben Adams and Steve Simmons did the dog work and worked through a lot of carrying. And the mobile back row of Toby Comley, hat-trick hero Liam Welch and the returning Bobby Mitchell all competed hard at the breakdown and made their tackles in the open.

This encounter was always going to be a forward-dominated fixture. That’s how Eastleigh play. Pick and go after pick and go with an occasional pop pass around the fringes to yet more forwards running into the Farnham defence. It was relentless and attritional.

But Farnham have looked extremely strong in defence all season, and this was to prove no different. The team has totally bought into the need to work for each other and be ruthless. This forced Eastleigh into mistakes that allowed the visitors to turn the ball over all over the park.

The pressure allowed Farnham’s backs to make yards. The half back pairing of captain Ollie Brown and fly-half Toby Salmon sniped for space and hit gaps in the Eastleigh defensive line. The space gave centres Mike Salmon and Tom Cerullo time to hit hard lines and get outside their larger opposite numbers. Wingers Reece Stennett and Dec Kavanagh pressurised the home defence by chasing down the massive kicks from Jack Scullion that kept Eastleigh pinned back in their half throughout the game.

Conor Haynes and Ian Williams both enjoyed a good 30 minutes from the bench with big shots and hard yards. The third finisher, winger Gabe Hills, tweaked a hamstring in the warm-up and was for emergency use only. And what a ploy it proved to be. Heavily strapped and with the tweak screaming for mercy, Hills made an interception under his own posts and sprinted the length of the field to score what proved to be the match-winning try. He then immediately left the field having made his one painful but telling effort for the team.

Farnham’s first try came from a huge carry by Liam Welch, slipping through multiple tackles. Toby Salmon converted. Stung into action Eastleigh then scored from numerous pick and goes and then breaking to the blindside. The Eastleigh full back took the extras to level the score at 7-7 before Eastleigh got their nose in front from a penalty at 10-7.

Farnham’s second try came from a penalty won by Rob Mitchell at the ruck. Toby Salmon kicked to touch and the forwards drove over from the lineout. Liam Welch on the back of the maul touched down for his second try. Toby Salmon converted and the lead was restored to 14-10.

The to and fro continued. Eastleigh were awarded another penalty in front of the posts which fullback Anderson slotted again. The penalties were mounting against Farnham and another brought the score at half time to 16-14 to Eastleigh.

The second half proved to be as attritional as the first. Eastleigh rumbled forward, drive after drive. However, to play the powerhouse game you have to be fit to sustain it. Some of the home forwards began to feel the effort and gradually Farnham turned the screw.

A howitzer from Scullion meant Eastleigh were pushed back to their 22. A Farnham lineout and drive saw Welch complete his hat-trick, Toby Salmon again converting for a 21-16 lead.

But Eastleigh would not lie down and a period of pressure offered the full back another opportunity to slot a penalty to reduce the gap to two points.

The score remained close as the two teams battered away at each other. It needed something special to break the deadlock – and Hills did the rest.

On Saturday, Farnham travel to Richmond to take on Old Tonbridgians looking to maintain their unbeaten record.