Old Walcountians remained in touch with the two leading clubs in Surrey League One after a rather laboured win against bottom club Farnham at Clock House last Saturday.

The Old Boys looked distinctly unimpressive for much of the first half with a performance strewn with dropped and missed passes and possession lost at ruck and maul.

The only exceptions to the rule were flankers Scott Cook and Jack South who foraged tirelessly for the ball, lock Tom McDowell who secured possession at mauls and scattered the Farnham defence with several bullocking charges and full-back Ollie Beales and centre Sam Naylor, whose defence was impeccable.

Walcountians opened their account after 14 minutes when Beales rifled over a penalty which rebounded in off a post but, a minute later, it was all square when Farnham took advantage of a penalty opportunity.

A second Beales penalty after 29 minutes restored Walcountians’ lead and, a minute later, centre Tim Chauncey extended Walcountians’ lead further when he snapped up a loose pass from Farnham’s backs in their own 22 and ran in for his sixth try of the season, which puts him level with Chris Walsh.

Ollie Beales’ conversion put the Old Boys into a ten-point lead which remained at half-time.

Walcountians started the second half with more urgency and cohesion in their play and extended their lead to 15 points after only four minutes when Ollie Beales punctured a huge hole in the Farnham defence with a sniping break and passed inside to supporting scrum-half Callum Stone who raced over for a try.

The Old Boys should have made more of their advantages in the second half.

They got the better of Farnham in the set scrums where props Ben Anderson and Kemlo Longstaff gave their counterparts a torrid time and, when the ball was released to the backs, they frequently opened up the visitors defence with deft passing and penetrative running.

But the visitors gave notice that they had not turned up to make up the numbers and, inspired by their draw against second-placed Old Whitgiftians the week before, started to take the game to the Old Boys in both the forwards and the backs.

12 minutes into the second half, they gave notice they were back in the game when their forwards drove deep into the Old Boys 22 and set up a ruck, from which the ball was released to their speedy left-winger who rounded the Walcountians’ defence for a try.

This woke up Walcountians who, five minutes later, scored again as No 8 Gavin Welsh drove over for a try from a scrum on the Farnham line.

But the Old Boys were not to be rewarded with further scores despite going close on several occasions, including one when Sam Naylor was denied a try for a forward pass with the Farnham line at his mercy.

The visitors were to score again in stoppage time when their left-winger scored his second try of the day to finish a threequarter move.

Next Saturday, Walcountians play their final game before Christmas when they make the short journey over the Chipstead Valley to play local rivals Chipstead.

The Chips have had a disappointing season so far, being third from bottom of Surrey League 1 but, as they showed a week ago with a spectacular demolition of Bec Old Boys, are not a side to be underestimated.

Kick-off at The Meads, High Road, Chipstead Village is at 2:15pm.