Winchester’s First XV posted their sixth consecutive London 2 South-West league win on Saturday, beating Farnham away 10-3. But there was no return to the home clubhouse for victory celebrations as England played Samoa on the big screen.

“It’s more a question of digesting food for thought, and Farnham gave us plenty of that”, said coach Andy Fields. “They may only have come into the league this season, but they’re rapidly finding their feet, and this is now a league where any team can beat any other on the day.”

In the wettest conditions in which they have played this season, Winchester committed more errors in this game than they had in any other. Time and time again, they put together a series of phases in attack, and time and time again promise turned into disappointment, with possession handed to the opposition by a handling error, a misdirected kick or a penalty offence.

Winchester’s 10 points came from two short-distance tries, both in the first half and both scored by second-row Rob Rees, who is now second only to captain and centre Jake Hiscock in the team’s try-scoring rankings. Unprecedentedly this season, there was no score at all in the second half.

Rees’s first try came after only five minutes, after a catch-and-drive from a lineout on the Farnham five-metre line. Farnham replied with a penalty kicked by centre Mike Salmon after a Winchester forward entered a ruck from the side.

Then came Farnham’s best try-scoring chance of the first half. Salmon sent a perfectly angled grubber-kick through the Winchester defence and showed an impressive turn of speed to run onto the ball, only to be beaten to the touchdown by a microsecond by Winchester scrum-half Connor Breen.

10 minutes later, blind-side flanker Chris Keegan broke down the left, offloaded to winger Matt Burt on the burst, and only a heroic Farnham tackle kept him from scoring. In keeping with what was becoming the Leitmotif of Winchester’s afternoon, the ball went forward from the tackle.

On 30 minutes, Rees showed yet again how hard his 6”6” stature and high-striding running action make him to stop. From 10 metres out, he battered through two vain tackle attempts before touching down for his second try.

The second-half stalemate was one between two utterly committed defences. Farnham were in Winchester’s face from start to finish, and showed that they thoroughly deserve their place in this league. In attack they are perhaps over-reliant on their talented midfield trio of fly-half Christopher Penn and the centre pairing of Tosh Masson and Salmon, but this was never going to be a day for outside backs.

In return, Winchester’s forwards again delivered the goods. They dominated the lineout, where Chris Searle threw in with his usual pinpoint accuracy despite a greasy ball, and Jerry Alfandari, Matt Golding and Zach Kinnaird gave Farnham such problems on their throw-in that they resorted to sending every ball to their front jumper.

Winchester shaded the home eight in the scrums, rucks and mauls, but did not have the clear dominance that they have shown against other sides higher in the league.

Despite their grim tally of handling and kicking errors in attack, Winchester can take comfort from the fact that Farnham’s two most promising second-half scoring chances were snuffed out by good hands and an accurate relieving kick just when they were needed. First, winger Tom Forster gathered a dangerous bobbling 45-degree kick-through from Masson and took the tackle, with the result that the ball went into touch off a Farnham player. Then, eight minutes from the end, Farnham had the put-in at a scrum on the Winchester 5-metre line, and a massive Winchester shove disrupted their heel. Who should snatch the ball up and kick it 45 metres up the field and into touch but that man Rees?

Winchester’s travelling supporters returned home with a sense of relief more than the elation they have become used to this season. Their team will no doubt return to business as usual when Old Reigatian come visiting on December 6th after a fortnight’s break in which to nurse their bruises and get their error-count down. In the meantime, supporters on both sides will remember Rees’s massive clearance kick, Breen’s high punt soaring over the high cantilevered roof of Farnham’s lovely two-storey clubhouse, and the exchange of warm greetings in the tunnel between Winchester prop Robbie Arthur and Farnham’s ex-Harlequin Tosh Masson, who played together at Bath when they were at university.

Otherwise, not one for the scrapbook.

Winchester team: Johnny Morris; Matt Burt, Jake Hiscock, Frank Bagnall, Tom Forster; Greg Sullivan, Connor Breen; Robbie Arthur, Chris Searle, Jim Beavan, Rob Rees, Jerry Alfandari, Chris Keegan, Zach Kinnaird, Matt Golding

Replacements: Alex Lee Pat Cheshire Michael West

Referee: Gary Payne (Kent)