Farnham Town Women v Croydon Women’s FC
SECWFL Surrey Premier League
Another warm and sunny morning for the journey to my final Sunday match of the season. A welcome return to Farnham with fingers crossed all the way that the game wouldn’t be cancelled with an hour to go like on my last visit to the Memorial Stadium! The three-train visit was made more entertaining by chatting to loads of Aldershot fans on their way to Wembley for their FA Trophy final date with Spennymoor.
A brisk walk through the town and I’d made it to the ground with plenty of time to spare, enough for a nice pint of ice cold Aspall’s cider, perfect for a warm lunchtime! A quick chat with Farnham’s Emma Mutch, Megan Averill & manager Martin Wareham and it was time for a catch up with Ashridge Park legend Duncan Owen (here to cheer on three of his former players, Laura Comerford, Megan Averill and Lily-May Varney).
After the league ratified two results for postponed in the week, the equation was simple. A win for Farnham would give them the league title in their first season. Quite an achievement for everyone involved at the club, made more impressive by the fact they were also 100% for the league season at this point, not dropping a single point throughout the entire 24/25 season.
So onto the game and the first twenty minutes or so were mainly played in the Croydon half but with the visitors unable to break through a well martialled and stubborn defence. The closest they came was when Kaitlin Howard broke through but sent her shot high over the bar.
She made amends in the 23rd minute when a Francesca Thornton strike was saved low down by keeper Emelia Blyth with the rebound pounced upon by Howard and she slid the ball home. 1-0
Minutes later the hosts doubled their lead, Emily Foss picking up the ball on the edge of the area before turning away from her marker and firing into the left corner. 2-0
Just after the half hour it was three. Efrosyni Theocharous picked up loose ball from the visitors defence on the left corner of the box and lifted a superb lob over Blyth and into the top right corner. 3-0
Croydon hit straight back, a great battling run down the right by Jade Asagba saw her nick the ball past two defensive challenges before bearing down on goal. Emma Stait came out quickly and blocked the initial effort but with the rebound bouncing towards the empty net, Asagba poked the ball in at the far post despite a sliding challenge from Emilie Miller. 3-1
In added time the home side regained their three goal advantage and it came from a familiar source. Mia Delaney playing a nice ball through to Howard whose great first touch left her in the clear and she made no mistake, stroking the ball past Blyth for her 16th goal of the season. 4-1
H-T: Farnham Town 4 Croydon 1
The visitors had the first chance of the second half after winning a corner on the left. This was swung into a dangerous area in the six yard box, Stait got an important touch with Kai Jafari just unable to get her header on target at the far post.
Farnham then started taking control again and Foss finding space for a snapshot on the edge of the area only to see it go just wide of the upright. On the hour the hosts won a corner on the right. A short corner routine Foss to Theocharous and back to Foss left her space on the corner of the area to curl a beauty over Blyth and into the top corner for her 20th league goal of the season. A well worked set piece and a great finish from Foss. 5-1
Laura Comerford was finding more space and looking dangerous down the right flank, and it wasn’t long before she got her name on the scoresheet. A fine battling run down the wing gave her space and she fired a ball into the area which flew over Blyth and into the net inside the far post. 6-1
The visitors were now looking tired on this hot afternoon and a lapse in defence gave Maya Adams a half chance but she dragged her shot wide of the post.
In the 78th minute the home side were awarded a free kick 35 yards out. Thornton curled it into the box where it was met by a strong Anya Kinnane header which flew over Blyth and into the roof of the net (sorry for the poor camera work!) 7-1
As the game entered its final stages, Blyth was twice called into action. First a pass through the defence picked out the run of Howard with the keeper saving well at her near post, then Foss and Theocharous tried a reprise of the short corner routine but this time Blyth was equal to Foss’ shot saving well.
As the referee blew the final whistle the celebrations began in earnest for Farnham, worthy league champions in the SECWFL Surrey Premier!
F-T: Farnham Town 7 Croydon 1
A fantastic season for the home side and the title wrapped up with a convincing win. Several players stood out on the day. Efrosyni Theocharous is a quality player and the engine room of this side, picking up loose passes, winning tackles and always seeming to have time to play the simple ball. This allows Francesca Thornton space in midfield and she has a great eye for a pass, often threading the ball through a defence to pick out players running. Emily Foss and Kaitlin Howard always look dangerous up front and certainly know where the goal is, two goals apiece again for them today.
I would also like to mention the only player I didn’t get the name of! The Croydon right back, the number 12, had a great game, pace to burn, she seemed to always be in the right place to get a toe in or cover a tricky situation and she had some tough opponents to deal with today in Varney and Adams. Very well played! (If anyone can tell me her name, I’ll add it in here).
So all that was left now was for Farnham to pick up the trophy on another memorable day for the club with their men’s side also taking their respective league title. There’s something special going on in this part of Surrey and you get the feeling this is just the beginning!
