Warlingham 7 – 15 Old Walcountians

A tale of what might have been at Hamsey Green as, despite dominance of possession and territory, Warlingham suffered a narrow defeat to Old Walcountians. It is often said that winning is a habit and teams can try too hard to get a victory. Both of those cliches were evident as the blue and whites left every single ounce of effort and endeavour on the Hamsey Green pitch but too often the final pass didn’t stick releasing the pressure on the visitors. Walcountians scramble defence deserves credit for try saving tackles in all four corners of the pitch and they took their chances ruthlessly.

The improvement in the Warlingham side in the last 2 months is remarkable. Walcountians won the corresponding fixture 58-10 in early December but there was no prospect of a repeat of this scoreline in 2023 as the new coaching team continued to make improvements.

However Old Walcountians struck with their first attack of the game. The inside centre sold an outrageous dummy, breaking the line from long range and sending his winger away for a try in the corner. This fast start continued as, following a breakdown penalty against the home side, the OWs flanker dived over in the same corner. Both tries were unconverted.

Warlingham were shaken into action. Their pack began to dominate in the loose and at scrum time with Lew Brown, Kelly and Nunn bossing things up front. The scrum shunted Walcountians back and were unlucky to not win penalties for their efforts. Strong carries in the middle from Cooke, Delderfield and man of the match, teenage forward Morgan Gillam led the men from Hamsey Green into their opponents ’22. Nathan Brown carved through a number of times stopped by last ditch defence. Veteran full back Alex Glover troubled the Walcountians from deep and with the returning McAvoy at fly-half and skipper Brad Saffrey pulling the strings, backs Ben Hamilton, Callum Wand and Olly Wilson were all denied close to the line. In defence, Warlingham hemmed the visitors in, soaking up the carries from the big forwards and forcing errors. Gillham and Dowling drove players back ferociously around the fringes. How Warlingham reached half time without at least one score we’ll never know but there was positivity about turning the scoreline around in the second half.

The second half saw more of the same. Lew Brown ran the ball with menace through the middle, bouncing tacklers aside frequently. Brad Saffrey led by example, beat defenders and used the ball well. Wand put his foot on the gas on the left wing and was denied again by excellent scramble defence. Alex Kelly showed class and dynamism all around the field. John Dowling dragged the side forward and tackled tenaciously. Warlingham were on top but looked occasionally frantic and impatient as they looked to get back into the game. Both sides received yellow cards. From a penalty, Walcountians scored a third unconverted try breaking out from a line out rolling maul to plunge over. OWs had few chances but took them all and will be happy with their clinical finishing.

The blue and whites needed to respond swiftly and Warlingham’s try came after a number of phases in midfield. With the ball spread to the right flank, young centre Olly Wilson drove through the Walcountians’ edge defence with a swerve and an explosive hand off. Picking up pace with the crowd’s encouragement, Wilson drew the full back and delivered a perfect pass to fellow teenager Hamilton to race over with impressive speed. The winger Hamilton converted his own try and the cheers from the Warly faithful indicated their side was back in it.

Warlingham showed desperation to score again. Hamilton was narrowly denied in the same corner by a last gasp try-saving tackle following great work from scrum half Edwards and the collective effort of the pack. Warlingham sought to turn the screw and exert more pressure but too often an error or penalty disrupted their progress.

The final whistle marked a frustrating afternoon for the home side but plenty of positives and signs of continuing progress. Senior players and the coaching team will keep the players heads up ahead of next Saturday’s home fixture against Old Cranleighians. Maximum support from supporters this week as we target a win and maximum turnout from all players at senior training on Wednesday night too. Keep the faith!