Sadly our first home league game of the season didn’t finish quite the way we wanted, here with his recollections is Men’s Senior player, Adam Downie-Keen.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Warlingham as they fell to a well-drilled Old Emanuel side, despite moments of real promise and determination.

The visitors struck first with a converted try, finding a soft gap through the middle after a breakdown to take an early 0-7 lead. A penalty soon after extended OE’s advantage to 0-10, before Warlingham got on the scoreboard with a well-struck penalty by fly-half Louis Rossi-Jones, making it 3-10.

Momentum shifted briefly as pressure from Warlingham forced an error, allowing Matt Barnett (1) to pick off an intercept and race under the posts for a try. The conversion brought the scores level at 10-10. Rossi-Jones had a chance to edge the home side ahead shortly after, but a penalty attempt drifted wide.

Warlingham continued to press, and a promising attack saw the ball held up over the line just before halftime - a key moment as both sides went into the break locked in a tight contest.

The second half started on a sour note with an injury to captain Morgan Gillam (5), and OE's capitalised with a try to go ahead 10-15. Sustained pressure from the visitors led to another score, extending their lead to 10-22, followed by a penalty to push the margin to 10-25.

Despite the scoreline, Warlingham refused to roll over. Rossi-Jones continued to control territory smartly, and the home side nearly struck back following a brilliant line from the tighthead prop Tom Worral and a silky Fijian-style offload, only for the next phase to end in a knock-on.

Mounting injuries began to take their toll, and the beefy OE pack started to grind down the Warlingham defence. OE's exploited a gap with a clinical break and finish past the full-back for the final try of the match.

There was one last push from Warlingham as Rossi-Jones sent a pinpoint kick into the corner in the dying moments. It was chased down bravely, but the ball was unfortunately knocked on just before the line; a moment that summed up a day of near misses.

MAN OF THE MATCH:
Our young lock forward Raphael Fudge who played well beyond his years.

All photos: Hayley Sasserath
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