The game began and so did the rain. It seemed like a carbon copy of last season where both teams took a complete drenching. Naturally both sides wished to protect the ball and played a little cautiously with the rain making ball handling problematical so it was hardly surprising that the score remained at 0 – 0 by the end of the first quarter.

The rain eased up as the second period got underway giving the Knight the chance to go ahead when Dipo Olaniyan intercepted the ball on the Trojan fifteen yard line and ran it back for the opening score. The point after kick went wide, leaving the visitors 6 - 0 ahead.

Bone jarring hits from the likes of Keiron Askew and Stuart Payne kept Tamworth in the game before Farnham got the bit between the teeth again when Dan Appleyard went into overdrive to score from forty-five yards out and followed it with a run to convert the score and nudge the Knights further into the lead at 14 – 0.

The Trojans soon found themselves further behind with their second turnover of the day. Matt Hall clawed in a wayward pass and scooted into the end zone from thirty yards out for another six points. Another missed kick left the home side 20 – 0 adrift.

Tamworth were missing a total of nine starting players for this game but the score line hurt their pride and galvanised their defense as they weighed in with two sacks, a well defended pass and crunching tackles to halt any running plays. With the Knights’ defense responding the sides slugged it out defensively until the Trojans made another critical error, fumbling the ball in their own end zone. Both Mitch Crossland-Scott and Charlie Reader fell on the ball and are still probably arguing as to who scored the points. The resultant score meant that the visitors were comfortably in the lead at 26 – 0 and Tamworth were left to rue three turnovers that had contributed twenty of those points.

The third quarter saw some ferocious defensive play from the likes of Chris Thacker and Nathan Ryan for the Trojans as the game became quite tense for a while. Some good running from rookie Karl Millett, playing in his first game, helped the Staffordshire side to generate some purposeful offense. Finally quarterback Aaron Rowe threw a beautifully weighted pass to Tom Bishop to complete a twenty-yard pass and open Tamworth’s account. With the conversion being unsuccessful they reduced the arrears to 26 – 6 at the end of the third.

Farnham killed off any hope of a Tamworth revival when Nick Olive threw a thirty-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Chris Hobbs for the final score of the day and a score line that was perhaps flattering at 32 – 6.

A victory in the return fixture will see the Knights with a 100% record and with a realistic run at the Championship game where they will prove the equal, if not the superior of many of the sides who will head into the post season.

For the Trojans, a full squad will make the world of difference. Of all the sides affected by teams pulling from the league they have been hit the worst. Make no mistake this side is one for the future. They are well run, well coached and are built on solid foundations with a skill factor higher than many out there