In our final home game of 2023, Farnham Town welcomed local rivals Camberley Town to The Memorial Ground on the weekend before Christmas for a festive derby game as we looked to remain perfect on the league campaign.
Last season, Camberley were somewhat of a bogey team for Farnham, with the Town failing to win any of their three match ups in league and cup, and failure to win this game would cement that status.
Max Meaton, Tom Smith and Jack Dean all remain sidelined with their respective injuries which leave Paul Johnson relatively short of options at fullback on both sides of the back four. Joe Jackson continues to deputise at right back, and Josh Lelan is recalled to the starting lineup at left back in place of Brandon Kalu. Charlie Postance comes back in to lead the line up front in place of Shamal Edwards.
Coming into the game, despite being in the bottom half of the table, Camberley had been on a decent run of form with just one defeat in their last six games, including three wins, and would’ve fancied causing a huge upset on Christmas.
That confidence was carried into the opening exchanges of the game as Farnham were definitely stifled in the first 15 or so minutes until they were awarded a corner on the right-hand side. The ball was whipped in and met on the full by Ryan Kinnane whose header looked destined for the net before it was cleared off the line on the volley.
Camberley had the best chance to take the lead at The Memorial Ground any away side had created all season when on 19 minutes a cross was delivered into the box for Mason Taylor who got goal side of Joe Jackson and directed his header goalwards. It beat Pat Nash in the Farnham goal but crashed off the bar and was subsequently cleared. The visitors would go on to probably rue what might have been if that went in.
Just five minutes later, Farnham were gifted an opportunity to take the lead. Adam Liddle turned the ball out to the right for Owen Dean to collect. Running direct at the left-back one-on-one, Dean was able to drop a shoulder to come inside onto his left but was tripped by the defender giving the referee no option but to point to the spot. Harry Cooksley boasted a 100% record from 12 yards this season and made no mistake as he struck the ball into the bottom left corner to give the Town the advantage.
Shortly before half time, Kinnane was presented with another great chance to get on the scoresheet with his head when Guy hollis collected the clearance from his own long throw. With time to consider the delivery, he stood up a ball into the middle of the box for Kinnane to meet, he set his header angling into the far corner but the loop on the ball allowed the Camberley ‘keeper to scramble across and tip it onto the post before it was cleared.
While the lead remained as slender as it was, Camberley always posed a threat on the counter attack, leaving four upfield man-for-man with the Farnham defence at virtually every opportunity, and this continued into the second half. Johnson made changes just before the hour mark looking to stretch the game and add some pace with Shamal Edwards and Brandon Kalu replacing Charlie Postance and Josh Lelan respectively.
As has been the case all season, the Farnham pressure was unrelenting and on 68 minutes they were able to double their lead. A nicely worked team move resulted in Dean sliding in Jackson on the overlap down the right, he cut it back into the middle of the box for Lamar Koroma to sweep home, netting his first of the season in the process.
Just 10 minutes later, the Town found a third and the game was more or less put to bed as a contest, and it was a carbon copy of the move for the previous goal. This time, it was Harry Cooksley in midfield who spotted the overlapping run of Jackson down the right. He fed him in, Jackson’s touch was heavy but he was able to beat the ball to the byline and cut it back to the penalty spot for Darryl Sanders to run onto, and he passed it into the bottom corner – Farnham’s 100th goal in all competitions this season in just their 26th game.
Five minutes from time having just been introduced as a substitute, Kai Tanner got on the ball midway in the Camberley half. He drove forward towards the defence and threaded a pass between several players into the path of Jackson who struck it first-time left-footed into the bottom corner around the ‘keeper, capping off a superb individual performance with a goal of his own after setting up the previous two.
It would finish 4-0 to the Town who made it 15 successive league victories to start the season, retaining top spot in the table at Christmas in the process. Next up for Farnham is a trip to Guildford City on December 30th.