This week saw Warlingham welcome current league leaders Old Tiffinians to the Hamsey Green field. Old Tiffs have so far have an unbeaten run taking seven from seven so it was going to take all of Warlinghams guile to overturn the top team. The conditions were near perfect at kick off which saw Tiffs kick down the slight slope into the welcoming arms of Warly second row Luke Delderfield who drove straight back into the heart of the on rushing line.
Alban Edwards darts in at scrum half and whips the ball away which is then kicked clear by Captain Brad Saffrey but gathered cleanly by the Tiffinian winger, right in front the clubhouse supporters , who then looked to counter attack early down the far side. Tiffinians moved the ball well through the hands and pushed play back into the Warlingham 22. Faced with a stiff defence Tiffs were forced to try a grubber kick through turning Warlingham around in midfield and forcing a knock on as the Warlingham wing tried to gather the ball . The referee blew and awarded the scrum to Tiffianians who whipped ball away quickly to 10 who made a short dart close into the scrum but he was felled by the Warlingham fullback who quickly back to his feet. Warlingham opted not to contest the ruck and instead quickly realigned their defensive line which gave the visitors no option but to again kick the ball through which found touch 5 meters from the Warlingham line. Warlingham won their own lineout and cleared their line to just outside the 22. Tiffinians No 8 was lifted superbly well and fed the scrumhalf with a ball off the top which was flicked out to the on rushing Tiffs back line. Again Warlinghams defences held strong as the visitors tried a series of short bludgeoning runs close into the rucks in mid field but their persistence was rewarded as Warlingham were draw in and defended to narrowly allowing the Tiffs 10 to throw a long pass wide cutting out 2 defenders and giving the Tiffs winger an easy try in the far corner.
Warlinghams restart was nicely weighted falling just outside the opponents 22 but it was well gathered by the Tiffs Loosehead who barrelled forward gaining a couple of yards before he was tacked. Tiffs then slowly and methodically worked their way back up to the half way line but yet again lacked the penetration and were forced to kick to gain any yardage. The resulting chase was good and Warlingham were pressured into touch on their 10m line but the ref had been playing advantage to Tiffs as Warlingham were caught offside in midfield. Tiffs interestingly opted to kick rather than drive on or kick to the corner which turned out to be a poor choice as the kick hit the left upright and was pounced on by Warlingham and cleared up to half way by the full back.
Tiffs gathered and threw themselves back at the Warlingham defence and for the next 5 minutes both sides played out the same moves with Tiffs battering Warlinghams line but the defence remained strong continually forcing Tiffs into a short kicking game which saw them gain little ground. Warlingham eventually gathered another kicked ball which Captain Brad Safferey spiralled up into touch 8 meters from the visitors try line drawing loud cheers from the home crowd. The lineout throw from Tiffs was high clearly meant for the back but Luke Delderfield leapt and intercepted the throw allowing Warlingham to pressure the Tiffs line for the first time in the match with a well executed and powerful driving maul. It was Tiffs turn to defend now and Warlingham were able to cross the try line but were held up resulting in a restart to Tiffs. Their clearance was poor and Warlingham now with the upper hand threw themselves back at the Tiffs with a series of great interchanges between backs and forwards balancing power and speed. Warlinghams efforts were rewarded when the referee awarded a penalty in front of posts which was converted.
The rest of the first half was played out in the same fashion in the Tiffianinan half of the pitch with Warlingham very much controlling the tempo of the game and dominating the rucks and mauls.
As the second half started Warlingham had the slight advantage of the slope and a good kick chase saw the home side rewarded with an early penalty which was unfortunately pushed wide to the left. Tiffs opted to kick to clear their own line but failed to find touch handing the ball back to a rapidly advancing Warly backline. The thrust up through centre field was snuffed as Tiffs stripped the ball and this time managed to find touch just outside their 22. Tiffs having been penalised twice in the first half for early jumping at the line chose to not contest the lineout which was cleanly gathered and Wary opted to drive the ball forward in a really dominant fashion sucking in the Tiffs pack to stop the rolling maul. As the maul went down Alban Edwards, at scrum half shot in and fizzed a sharp ball out to centre field which saw Oli Wilson wrapping around to take a short pop ball. Tiffs eight had tracked Oli across field and drove his shoulder into the Warly player forcing a knock on in the tackle. Tiffs opted to play the advantage and tried to escape their own half but were again stifled before half way. The ref blew up and brought play back to the scrum which Warlingham again dominated driving the opposition back a couple of meters forcing 8 to pick up and drive. He managed to squirt the ball away and feed the ball wide to the Tiffs right wing who pierced the dog- leg in front of him and was able to accelerate away and dot down in front of the home supporters. The conversion was missed and Warly refused to be silenced and immediately threw themselves back at the visitors. The next few minutes saw Warlingham batter and stifle any attempts by Tiffs to escape their own half with some rock solid tackling and dogged determination by every Warly player. The pressure yet again eventually forced Tiffs to kick up field to try and gain ground and this time it wasn’t cleanly gathered by Warlingham and Tiffs pack now set about some trying to string together a passage of play which saw them utilising quick short stabbing drives to both sides of the ruck before a switch play saw them move the ball wide giving them a 2 on 1 on the far side and a try in the far corner which was converted.
Tiffs having found a way to make ground settled into a pattern driving the ball around the corner before releasing their back line but each drive was met with aggresive tackling by the Warlingham squad who kept pushing the attacks back again forcing Tiffs to clear up field. After stopping a series of drives in centre field Warlingham in their enthusiasm were caught offside and punished with a kick to touch up the 5 meter line outside the club house. The Tiffs No. 8 had been working hard all afternoon was able to gather and this time their pack opted to drive the maul and forced the ball over the line for a powerful try.
Warlingham not to be silenced immediately forced Tiffinians onto the back foot and pressured them into attacking from their own try line. A series of runs from in goal were stamped out and the ball was stripped away by Lew Brown in the tackle allowing Warlingham to prosper ending with a well deserved try of their own.
As we entered the last quarter both sides maintained the tempo and tried to find the chink in the armour of their opponent. Tiffs again kicked their way up field and gained a penalty which they opted to kick for points but on this occasion it went wide where it was gathered by the Warly wing Juai who sprinted forward offloading to the supporting back row. With quick hands the ball moved across field and a superbly weighted grubby kick by full back Atko was regathered and saw Warlingham score a try having gone the full length of the pitch.
Both sides continued to exchange tactical punches up until the final whistle which saw Tiffs victorious but Warlingham should be proud of the performance today with the whole squad delivering what has been the best performance this season.
After the match the Old Tiffinians support were clearly relieved they had held on for the win and acknowledged this had been their toughest match this season.