Farnborough 23 - 11 Southampton

Southampton hoped to complete a double of wins over Farnborough after victory earlier in the season at Test Park. But some last minute changes saw Ramsay Lind drop out through illness, bringing Dave Griffiths in at fly half. Ian Paul stepped in at second row with Steve Dewey playing prop with injuries keeping Pete Fox and Tim Breed out of action.

The game started in typical fashion with Southampton conceding an early penalty after joining a ruck from the side, leaving them three points down inside the first few minutes. Ryan Keary hit back with a penalty in front of the posts as the ref showed early on that he would be happy to use his whistle.

Southampton have been used to having the more powerful set of forwards so it was something of a shock when Farnborough drove them backwards at a scrum and turned the ball over. Then from a lineout on the Southampton five meter line, the ball was caught in the middle of a shortened line, before the spare forwards hit the maul and drove Southampton over the try line to score. The conversion took the score to 10-3.

Ryan Keary then hit back with another penalty before the Southampton backs got a chance to use their speed with Adam Zeller, Ryan Keary and Mark Waterer combining to open up the defence on the left wing. Waterer chipped the ball over the defence and got a fortunate bounce that popped up into his arms before he darted through a gap to touch down for the try, putting Southampton ahead 10-11.

With the first half coming to an end, Southampton started testing the Farnborough back-three with some cleverly placed kicks to the corners. One effort from Keary seemed to have been watched safely into touch by the Farnborough left winger, but he suddenly decided to keep the ball alive, slinging it blindly infield as Southampton’s two Adams chased him down.

Adam Tyson got to the loose ball first and touched it down, but with Keary lining up the conversion, Southampton touch-judge Nick Cazeaux showed tremendous sportsmanship by signalling to the ref that the Farnborough winger had a foot in touch and the decision was overturned.

The second half saw Farnborough utilising their big Fijian centre to batter away at the Southampton defence. Some good tackling ensured he did not break through, but some further infringements gave Farnborough the chance to retake the lead with two penalties from long range.

It remained a close game with Southampton threatening the Farnborough line, but they were never quite able to find the final pass that would have opened up the defence. Instead they soon found themselves defending a scrum on their five metre line. Farnborough kept the pressure on the Southampton pack and a big shove had the visitors in trouble, with the scrum marching backwards and scrum half Dave Ward unable to dig out the ball.

Instead Chris Milne scooped the ball out from number eight, but his pass missed Ward, who was then thrown unceremoniously over his own line as he gathered the ball. With Ward dazed but holding the ball up behind his line, the Farnborough scrum half ripped the ball out and touched down to claim the try. The conversion put Farnborough out of reach at 23-11.

Another disappointing result for Southampton, who again come away with a defeat from a game they could have won. Some excellent individual performances though, with Tom Barnes putting in some solid tackles at centre and Jamie Hoque being a typical nuisance from flanker. Man of the Match went to Dan Keepax, who made big tackles all afternoon and popped up in support going forward.

Southampton host Ventnor next Saturday and will be desperate for a win after they gave away six kickable penalties to lose the away fixture.