Due to the postponement of our match at Yate Town and with Walton & Hersham being involved in the FA Trophy, we have not had a league fixture since the home defeat to Gosport Borough on November 1st. With a few players carrying knocks perhaps it has given the squad some much needed time to recover and be ready to get the season back under way.
We make the trip to Surrey based Farnham Town on Tuesday evening, ko 7.45pm hoping to go one better than the 2-2 draw when we played them at the BlackGold on September 9th. We took an early lead in that match courtesy of a superb IK Hill direct strike from a free kick just outside the penalty area. However, the visitors equalised just before half time through Mat Mackenzie. Both sides pressed hard in the second half but it was Farnham who took the lead with penalty awarded for hand ball, Darryl Sanders making no mistake from the spot. It looked like being a rare home defeat for the Dolphins until that man IK Hill popped up again with a last-minute equaliser. So, the points were shared.
Farnham Town have been on quite a journey in the last couple of seasons. They won promotion to the Isthmian South-Central League in the 2023/4 season. They won this at a canter, finishing on 102 points, a massive 20 points ahead of runners up Uxbridge on 82. Along the way they scored an amazing 120 goals. (P42 W32 D6 L4 102 points). So quite a performance. They have also enjoyed impressive cup runs in the FA Vase and FA Cup.
A lot of this success has been credited to the appointment of manager Paul Johnson. He became the Farnham Town manager in November 2022 and won silverware in his first season as Farnham beat Balham 3-2 in the Southern Combination Cup Final in May 2023.
The 2023/24 season was a historic one for the Club under Johnson as they enjoyed their best-ever runs in the FA Cup and FA Vase, reaching the Surrey Cup Final for the first time ever, but most importantly, were crowned champions of the Combined Counties Premier Division South after completing an invincible league campaign.
In their first season at this level, they are sitting in 8th place (P13 W6 D5 D3 23 points) and will be pleased with the start that they have made. They are 9th in the form table with three wins from their last six matches. They have won twice at home, the opening day 1-0 defeat of Hungerford and the impressive 4-0 victory over Taunton Town at the end of September.
However, they have lost their last two home matches, 3-2 v Weymouth and 2-1 against league leaders Walton & Hersham. Their last league match was the 2-1 away win at Evesham United on 8th November.
Paul Johnson has been keen to bolster his defence and has turned to the sought after centre back Dan Bayliss who he has signed on a permanent transfer from National League South side Chesham United for an undisclosed fee on a contract until June 2027.
He has great experience, not only at Step 3 level where he cemented himself as one of the standout defenders in the Southern League Premier South during his time with Bracknell, but at National League South level where he was a mainstay with Slough for two years prior to joining Chesham a United in the summer of 2025.
It will be a very tough test at The Memorial Ground but Pat Suraci and Joe Lea are bound to have the lads raring to go for this crucial fixture in our bid to keep in touch with the league’s leading pack.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington
