Farnham Town’s over-50s walking football squad bounced back from a difficult start to win the Division Two title at the Hampshire FA walking football tournament.

The day didn’t begin the way Farnham would have hoped, with a 3-0 defeat to Cove. Farnham had much of the control in the game early on, but two defensive mistakes allowed Cove to take advantage and build an advantage that proved too big to recover from.

From that point on, however, Farnham tightened up defensively and didn’t concede another goal for the rest of the tournament, a 66-minute run that highlighted the squad’s discipline and teamwork.

Their turnaround started with a 1-0 win over Pompey. Max Carter grabbed the only goal of the game, reacting quickly after the Pompey goalkeeper parried a snapshot to slot home the rebound.

Farnham followed that up with another narrow victory, beating Eastleigh 1-0 in a similar contest. Farnham created several chances, with Mark Clark striking the post before Andy Cundy made amends for his earlier defensive errors by firing a sweet drive into the bottom corner.

The final game against Havant Hawks sealed the title. Farnham again controlled much of the match, although Jon Jordan had to produce a superb reflex save to keep the scores level. The breakthrough came when Havant denied a clear goalscoring opportunity, resulting in a penalty and a blue card under the competition rules. Carter stepped up and calmly slotted home the spot kick to secure a 1-0 win.

With three wins and three clean sheets after the opening defeat, Farnham finished the tournament as Division Two champions.

Farnham Town Flares player-manager Andy Cundy said: “After a slow start, we all got into a groove and saw it out well.

“The clean sheets showed how well everyone worked together, and it was great to finish as Division Two champions.”