After coming through a brief scare at Tunbridge Wells in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round last weekend, the Town turned their attention to their first-ever Step 4 league fixture in the Isthmian South Central against familiar opposition.
As if the scriptwriters couldn’t plan for a more mouthwatering fixture, Paul Johnson’s side would make the short trip down the road to take on local rivals Badshot Lea in their league opener. The Baggies were promoted from the Combined Counties Premier Division South after the 22/23 season, followed by the Town last season.
The last time the two sides faced each other was in that 22/23 campaign, with Farnham running out comfortable 3-0 winners at the Operatix Community Stadium, completing a league double over Badshot Lea, but the pair now square off at Step 4 level for the first time ever.
It had been a busy week off the pitch for Farnham, especially in regards to their recruitment as some later-summer additions to the squad were made, most notably the high-profile returns of goalkeeper Pat Nash on a season’s loan from Aldershot, and striker Adam Liddle who had joined league rivals Kingstonian before deciding he wanted to return, with both coming straight into the starting lineup.
A third familiar face also returned, versatile defender Liam Flanighan is back with the Club after playing a pivotal role in Chertsey Town’s promotion from the Isthmian South Central last season, but is dealing with a slight calf complaint which saw him sidelined for the league opener.
Also watching from the sidelines was Jordan Stepney who is closing in on a return from an ankle injury suffered in pre-season, but this game came a week too soon for the defender.
You’d be forgiven for thinking, given the occasion, that there may have been a few nerves in the Farnham camp coming into this one, but the players out on the pitch showed no sign of them. From minute one, Johnson’s side assumed control of the game against what appeared to be a very youthful but talented home side.
However, the hosts did come closest to breaking the deadlock early on, albeit with a hint of luck as a corner from the right side was whipped in towards the near post, hitting the frame of the goal and eventually cleared away.
The chances did then come thick and fast for Farnham, Owen Dean cutting the ball back for Mark Waters on the edge of the box on nine minutes, but the midfielder’s whipped effort was high and wide.
On 13 minutes, the Farnham pressure did find a breakthrough. Darryl Sanders, as he often does, played a cute ball between two defenders and into the path of Owen Dean who skipped around goalkeeper Myles Bowman, but was upended by the ‘keeper, leaving the referee no option but to point to the spot.
Owen finished last season on penalty duty and started the new campaign still on the spot kicks. He stepped up and sent Bowman the wrong way to hand the Town a deserved early lead at the Operatix Community Ground.
Just four minutes later, Farnham were streaming forward again as a flick on from Liddle, who looked like he’d never left, found Sanders in space. He again played it forward for Owen Dean who breezed past two challengers to rifle home a right-footed effort and in the blink of an eye, the Town were two goals to the good.
With the hosts rocked, the message would’ve been to put a foot on the throat of the opposition and end the game as a contest in the first half, and the eleven Farnham players out on the pitch duly delivered.
Liddle had a curling effort on the right side of the box excellently tipped behind by Bowman, but the resulting corner at the half-hour mark brought Farnham’s third of the game. After initially being cleared away, the ball fell for Jack Dean on the edge of the box, he volleyed a shot into the box and Sanders applied a deft touch across the face of Bowman, diverting it into the bottom left corner.
Again, it would just be four minutes before Farnham netted again. Harry Cooksley sent a cross-field switch out to Joe Jackson at left-back who strode forward into acres of space. He played a one-two with Sanders on the left side of the box before striking an effort under Bowman for the Town’s fourth in 34 minutes – and the game was out of sight.
The Town went into the break with a four-goal lead over their local rivals and would’ve been sent back out for the second half looking to add to their lead, but perhaps the interval came at the wrong time for Farnham as they appeared to have lost their ruthless touch in the second half.
Having barely touched the ball in the first half of his second debut for the Club, Pat Nash would be called into action early in the second half after Cooksley’s challenge on Kai Allsopp saw Badshot Lea awarded a penalty. The Aldershot loanee gave everyone a reminder of what led him to become a fan favourite over the previous 18 months, making an excellent save low to his right to preserve his clean sheet for the time being.
On the hour mark, Jack Dean was presented with not one but two opportunities to score Farnham’s fifth after a corner fell to his feet, but Bowman made two impressive close range stops to deny him.
Johnson then made a slew of changes, with all five substitutes coming into the game, and to be expected with so many changes in a game that was long over as a contest, it’s tricky to pick up the speed of the game and carry on the momentum that had been built.
In front of a crowd which was almost twice as big as the next largest attendance in the division that afternoon, Badshot Lea did give their fans something to cheer for late on. Seven minutes from time, Harvey Harry netted a consolation goal after some neat interplay on the edge of the box.
Just like he did in our FA Cup win the previous weekend, Duarte Martins came off the bench to make an impact at the death. Fellow substitute Lewis Flatman clipped in a corner deep in injury time which was met on the volley by Martins at the near post, diverting his effort into the top corner to make it five for Farnham.
5-1 is how it would end and the result put Farnham top of the Isthmian South Central on goals scored. Way too early to be looking at those sorts of things, but for one week at least, the Town would be top dogs in the division.
Next up for Farnham is their home opener against Sittingbourne in the FA Cup Preliminary Round, Saturday, August 17th – 3PM kick-off.