Farnham Town manager Paul Johnson was delighted with his side’s performance after they won 5-1 at Badshot Lea in the Isthmian League South Central Division on Saturday.
Town raced into a 4-0 lead at half-time thanks to goals from Owen Dean (2), Darryl Sanders and Joe Jackson.
Harvey Harry pulled a goal back for the Baggies late on, but there was still time for Duarte Martins to make it 5-1 with an emphatic finish.
“We were excellent,” said Johnson. “I couldn't have asked for much better. I thought in the first half we were really good. Half-time came at the right time for them (Badshot Lea) because I think with another ten or 15 minutes it could have been six or seven.
“We won it in the first half but it's a shame half-time came because they (Badshot Lea) got in and regrouped and there's no pressure on them then. They came out and played a bit more freely and it was a scrappy second half. It was not the way we wanted it to go but you can't take too much away from the boys because of that first-half performance. It was excellent.
“We scored a couple of good goals along the way and a couple of ricochets getting our way through the box, but the boys deserved that. When you play on the front foot and go in the box with that much power you are either going to score or get a penalty. I’m really happy with the way we attacked. We kept the ball really well at times.”
Johnson was full of praise for Dean after he started the league campaign with two goals.
“It's a big season for Owen,” said Johnson. “He's still a young lad. He's not played this level but he's got all the ability to keep on pushing and going higher. I’m really happy for him. We brought in a couple of players up top this summer and he's most probably looking over his shoulder a little bit of where he fits in but he thoroughly deserves to be starting the season. If he keeps scoring he'll keep giving us loads of headaches and he'll keep playing.”
Next up for Farnham is a home game against Sittingbourne in the preliminary round of the FA Cup on Saturday (3pm), and Johnson is looking forward to the test.
“There is no pressure,” said Johnson. “We'll go and enjoy it. We'll train this week and look forward to Sittingbourne at home in front of a big crowd.”