BASINGSTOKE RFC will take a lot of confidence from their opening day loss at Farnham 36-20, as they gear up for their home opener on Saturday against Weybridge Vandals.

Last season, Stoke beat Weybridge on the final day of the season, which is sure to add extra spice to the game this weekend.

Looking back on the opening day defeat captain Rob Northcote said: “Farnham have recruited well over the summer and are very focused on promotion this year.

“We knew they would be one of the strongest teams in the league and it was very encouraging to see the level we were at, plus it gave us a good understanding of the level of the league in general.

“We are all looking forward to the Weybridge game and being cheered on by our own fans.”

In the loss against Farnham, the home side opened the scoring after 25 minutes and soon led 24-0.

When Stoke did get the ball they looked good going forward with David Lambert marshalling the back line well.

The visitors finished first half the strongest of the two teams by scoring a well worked team try from Northcote to make it 24-5 at the break.

After the interval, Tom Humberstone scored a great team try after some extended phase play where we held onto the ball and used their strike runners of Tom Allen and Simon Appleby very well.

Mid way through the second half, Stoke won our own scrum which provided a solid platform which resulted in an amazing team try where we saw Carl White fend off and run very strongly down the pitch to offload to Appleby, who coasted for Stoke’s third try.

The visitors now pushed for a bonus point score, but Farnham were awarded a penalty try after continued infringements by our pack.

However, Stoke did not give up and after a number of multiple phases Northcote scored for the bonus point try.