Farnham beat Bournemouth 30-20 at Monkton Lane in the opening game of the season.

Bournemouth scored the first try of the game when their right winger beat two men to dive in the right corner. The conversion was missed.

The reply was almost instant with Farnham winning a penalty and kicking for the corner. The rolling maul got Farnham to within touching distance of the line, and Adam Pickett was on hand to power over from close range. The conversion was successful.

Max Williams’ footwork got Farnham in behind. He offloaded to Sam Cowman before Bournemouth were penalised at the breakdown. Toby Salmon opted for the posts and chipped over an easy three points to make it 10-5 at half-time.

Farnham kicked off the second half. Some good early phases got them close to the 22 and some smart play close to the ruck from Sam Voight allowed him to go through and offload to Cowman, who was stopped short by a high tackle. Bournemouth were reduced to 14 for ten minutes and Salmon opted for the posts and extended the lead to 13-5.

Bournemouth were awarded a penalty 45 metres out and slotted it down the middle to make the score 13-8.

Another penalty to Farnham allowed them to kick to the corner and get their driving maul moving, and Greg Franzell went over from a few yards out. The conversion was successful.

Bournemouth were back to 15 men but Farnham were were awarded a penalty on the 22 and went for the posts. The successful kick made it 23-8. Farnham were then reduced to 14 men after Josh Watson went high in the tackle.

Bournemouth scored a try when they broke down the Farnham defence to score on the right-hand side. The conversion was missed.

A loose Bournemouth pass was picked off by Salmon, who scampered clear from 60 metres and dotted down in the right-hand corner. The conversation was successful.

Farnham were back to 15 men, but not for long. A high tackle from Tommy Allen earned him a yellow card. Bournemouth scored their third try to make it 30-20.

Farnham travel to Guildford on Saturday.