Farnham Town Take All Three Points From A Wonderful Weekend Away In Jersey.
Winning is a wonderful habit.
And one that the Farnham Town Fans are gradually getting used to.
This was the Town’s fifth win on the spin and, over 90 minutes, a well-deserved one.
A hard fought first half saw few chances created, with both sides respecting each other, working hard to quickly close down space and deny their opponents anything approaching an opening.
It was Jersey Bulls who came closest to opening the scoring in the first half, when a well struck free kick was superbly tipped over the bar by Farnham ‘keeper Liam Harris in the 17th minute. And Harris would continue to keep the hosts at bay in the first fifteen minutes of the second half with two smart saves with his legs.
Then, and somewhat against the run of play, the Town took the lead on 58 minutes.
A long goal kick was knocked down the line by Lewis Flatman and into the stride of Shamal Edwards who took the ball into the area before pulling it back for Lamin Ceesay to slot home, as his marker stumbled behind him.
Stung by this setback, Jersey responded strongly and Farnham were again grateful to their ‘keeper when he got down to tip a well struck, goal bound, shot around the post. However, from the resulting corner, the unfortunate Harris would go from ‘hero to zero’, failing to claim the cross and reduced to watching helplessly as the ball was headed back across goal for a simple tap in.
With around a quarter of an hour to play, it now seemed inevitable that Jersey would go on to score a second, and almost everyone in the ground thought that they had done so, first, when a volleyed shot came back off the post and into the hands of a grateful Harris, and then when an unmarked free header was sent wide of the post deep into added time.
Yet somehow the Town were still level.
And, with only seconds remaining, they would go on a final attack, working the ball out to Tom Smith on the overlap, who sent in a cross that struck a defender on the arm, just on the edge of the area.
It was a last gasp chance that seemed to be wasted when Lewis Flatman’s free kick sailed straight toward the Jersey ‘keeper, but, inexplicably, he failed to catch it, instead dropping it down in front of Shamal Edwards who reacted instinctively to stab the ball home.
To emphasise how little time remained, Jersey would take only two touches from the kick off before the referee blew for time!
For the travelling Farnham Town fans, things really couldn’t have gone any better and they celebrated long into the night.
They now travel away to Westfield in the quarter final of the Aldershot Senior Cup on Tuesday evening before playing Balham on non-league day here at the Memorial Ground on Saturday.
MOTM : Liam Harris
The Town’s next home match is the Combined Counties Premier Division South league game against Balham on Saturday 25 March. Kick off 3:00pm