Trips to Farnborough have rarely been successful for us over the years. There was a time when their flat pitches and tidy clubhouse was something we only dreamed of having. After a heavy week of rain their top pitch was a shadow of its former condition, very bobbly and heavy, bringing back memories of how the meadow used to play. A strong squad meant we were quietly optimistic that we could avenge our 4-0 defeat at Knole earlier in the season. The big question was whether the quiz the night before in the Bells would help or hinder our form.

Tim missed the quiz after attending a FIFA training session in Portugal, but his spies had obtained plentiful video evidence of exuberant dancing and carousing. Rumour had it that he even had a live count of big Gav's drinks. Despite the big night everyone from the quiz showed up, albeit sporting a range of hangover symptoms. Tim had problems from an unexpected quarter as Pat had to call off with man flu and Trevor couldn't find the ground.

A strong line up saw Stu H started in goal, Terry big Gav Martin and Danny H at the back, wee Gav, Tom C, Els, Jamie in midfield and Kris and Stu up front. Beggsy, Tim and I were on the bench.

The pitch was very poor, bobbling and clarting the ball with mud. It meant long balls were very difficult. Surprisingly we coped much better than Farnborough. They had a team full of tidy players, but their passing wasn't working. Good pressing by us meant they struggled to get any moves together. We had the better of the early moves and looked he more likely to score. As happens so often, we conceded the first goal when good pressing by Farnborough intercepted one of our passes and they finished it well. We didn't panic and kept it patient and tight at the back. We were on top and got back to level when Stuart (McTominay) Taggart scored a cracker. He received the ball from Stu H in goal, burst through a couple of tackles and launched a long-range effort that eluded the goalkeeper. We kept going and earned a series of corners at the end of the half. We have become very dangerous at set pieces with Martin and Big Gav going up to supplement the aerial power of Els and Stuart. With the last touch of the half Els scored a diving header high into the top left corner from Kriss inswinging cross.

Tim measured the situation perfectly at half time, he kept us calm and demanded continuing concentration. The second half started with Farnborough changing tactics and putting more players into midfield. A lot of the play was in our half as they had a lot more possession and overran us in the centre. Tim moved Terry into his classic front sweeper role in front of the defenders. This was very effective and broke up Farnborough's rhythm. Big Gav was having a vintage game, smashing tackles, headers and clearances all over the place. He blasted a mighty clearance from just outside our box high into the sky. Incredibly when it returned to earth it landed near Stu T way up the other end. Stu controlled it well and crossed it for Kris to dart in at the back post to make it 3-1. A pre-assist from Gav. Farnborough hit back quickly with a clever passing move that underlined how well we had done to keep them out. Big Gav was instrumental in our final goal, a huge tackle in midfield that incensed their player who leapt up and was ready to start on Gav, forgetting the ball. The ref waved play on, and a quick-thinking Kris burst away and finished calmly inside the post to make it 4. We parked the bus for the last 10 minutes to see out the game.

An excellent victory to mark wee Gav's 40th, and the end of Movember for Martin, Danny H, Kris and wee Gav (Squadron Leader Little's moustache looks set to survive December). Stevie White and Colin Burrows (Welsh Branch) were enthusiastic Ultras supporting us from the dugout designed for dwarves.