PREVIEW – Farnham (A)
It’s the one the league has been waiting for. First against second. The last of the unbeaten records in the division going head-to-head. Top of the table Tottonians against second placed Farnham. What a game in prospect!
MATCH: Farnham v Tottonians
VENUE: Monkton Lane, Farnham GU9 9ND
COMPETITION: Regional Division 2 South Central
DATE: Saturday 30th November 2024
KICK-OFF: 2:00pm
ADMISSION: FREE
LIVE MATCH UPDATES: On our Twitter/X channel @Tottonians
OVERVIEW:
Played nine, won nine against played nine, won eight (drawn one). If this game doesn’t get the juices flowing, nothing really will! It’s been the game that has been awaited for some time and now, it’s here. 2pm on Saturday across the Surrey border, it comes to pass.
It is quite a big day for Farnham with members completing a charity walk from Twickenham to the ground and the juniors will be on the field for a curtain raiser. The Surrey side are embracing Movember with some fundraising and entertainment.
But the main entertainment will be the 80 minutes on the park against a side that Tottonians did the double over last season, winning 45-31 at Water Lane and then pulling through in a nail-biter 42-27 in February at Monkton Lane.
Things have been different this year. Farnham have strengthened their numbers this season and their results have been impressive, only slipping up at home to Winchester, who put in extra, put in a shift for the boys that day, to play out a 25-25 draw. Chuh!
Just three points separate the sides as we go into the game. A bumper crowd is expected so get in early. Who wins? Who knows? But it will be a game not to be missed so, come on Tottonians, it’s not that far up the A31 … a win here will seriously stamp authority on the division come the end of the season.
TEAM NEWS:
Plenty of changes once again to the Tottonians ranks for this game – not something uncommon this season!
Jamie Laing moves over to the wing with Josh Raqio unavailable for the rest of the calendar year and Josh Andrews returns in the centre. Cam Flint goes into the second row to make room for the returning Scott Rogers on the flank and Andy McEwen plays his first first XV game of the season at number eight.
Oli King takes a seat on the bench alongside Kevin Raqio and Alex Robinson.
HISTORY and STATS:
This is a fixture that has been played dating back to December 2001 in London 4 South-West. This will be the 14th league meeting with Totts leading 9-4 in the previous 13.
In that first season of 2001/02, Totts won the home game 37-17 but returned down the A31 with a 24-17 loss in the reverse fixture. We would go on to meet in London 4, London 3 and London 2 before re-engaging in 2023/24 with the double wins last time out in Regional 2.
Having said that, the record at Monkton Lane is three wins each, Totts winning 11-7 in 2002, 31-13 in 2014 and 42-27 last season while Farnham were successful in 2002, 2005 and 2006. Totts have won the last two meetings there in 2014 and 2024.
