Subdued first half performance costs Warlingham

On a perfect afternoon for rugby, Deal snatched the points in this London Division 2SE league encounter by a 12 point margin and thereby remain near the top of this highly-competitive league. With regular skipper Zac King sidelined with a hamstring injury, flanker Jon Osborne was asked to captain the side for the day.

The hosts endured a major setback after only 3 minutes when fly-half James Agate fell and broke his right hand after a collision with a loose boot; he was replaced by young Finton Morris who did well for his first full game. Although Warlingham were first to score through a well struck Joe McEvoy penalty, the rest of the first half belonged to the visitors. They gained a good deal of worthwhile possession and scored 2 converted tries and 2 penalty goals to rack up 20 points within 35 minutes. In fact they were in complete control until just before half time when a game-changing event occurred. For the first time in 3 matches, the Warlingham scrum locked-out and shoved the opposing scrum a hefty few yards backwards and this set the scene for a very different second period.

After the break, Alban Edwards replaced Murtagh at scrum-half and the hosts began to take the game to the league leaders. Nick Ray and Kieron Scutt made noticeable drives as Warlingham began to put several phases of flowing rugby together. This caused the visitors to transgress and give away penalties as they defended frantically. The front row of Alex Nunn, Ant Abou-Zaid and Scutt were now in full control at the set scrummage as Warlingham mounted sustained attacks on the Deal line. One such phase allowed Morris to float a pass out to winger Jack Green who completed the score in the left-hand corner. McEvoy was short with the conversion but despite further valiant efforts, this turned out to be the final score of the afternoon.

Warlingham can take some pride in their second half performance which saw them dominate the set pieces. Alban Edwards looked alert at scrum-half and Brad Saffery threatens to break through every time he gets the ball. McEvoy countered well from full back and No.8 Ollie Dodwell was always prominent in attack and defence.

After the match Head Coach Ben Stobart said: “We gave them too much respect in the first half and that proved to be our downfall. The second half proved that we can compete with every club in this league but we have to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together for the full 80 minutes.”

Warlingham: McEvoy; Skinner, Davies, Saffery, Green; Agate (Morris), Murtagh (Edwards), Nunn, Abou-Zaid, Scutt, Ray, Ioannou, Ayles, Osborne (capt.), Dodwell.