Warlingham welcomed the spring sunshine to Hamsey Green with a convincing bonus point win over Woking, writes David Halliwell.

FINAL SCORE
Warlingham 34 - 7 Woking

The five try display from the home side owed much to their grit and determination to win the arm wrestle on a pudding of a pitch. In a scoreless and attritional opening 30 minutes, Wars big hitting and steel was epitomised by imposing young forwards Olly McCusker and Tom Worrall who took the hard yards and were immovable in close quarters defence. Relentless kick chase pressure from Jonah Clay with the security of custodian Adam Downie-Keen at full back edged Wars into the ascendancy and the effort paid dividends as the game broke open.

From a break inside their own 22, Warlingham flanker Nick Hammond provided a brilliant offload from the floor to Jackson Stevens, with the centre given space to burn past defenders and find flying winger Roy Hart outside. As the Wars worked the ball back towards the posts, Woking desperately killed the ruck ball to prevent a certain try but it was no more than temporary reprieve as Stevens quick thinking and tap penalty sent powerhouse lock Harry Cave over for the game’s opening score. Olly Wilson added the extras and it was the skipper who would extend the blue and whites lead further before the break.

A brilliant 20 metre rolling maul from the Warlingham pack marched Woking back to their own line with abrasive hooker Olly Gill anchoring the dominant shove. Again, Woking took desperate measures to halt the Wars’ progress, with the collapsed maul resulting in a yellow card. From the penalty, soaring second row Spencer Clifford took the line out ball and as Warlingham shifted the attack from forwards to backs, fly-half Wilson fooled the visitor’s defence with a deft show-and-go to dive over beside the post on the stroke of half time. Wilson converted his own try to send the home side into a 14 - 0 lead and a well earned break on the energy sapping pitch.

The half-time talk centred on taking opportunities and capitalising on the extra man for the next 9 minutes. Sure enough Warlingham came out of the traps quickly and increased their lead. Scrum half Lewis Hazeldine increased the tempo at the right times and challenged the Woking defence with big ball carriers Raphael Fudge and Andrew Dearden making dents in the defence. From quick ball, Clifford powered through a gap and incisive passing to the right flank found explosive centre Moses Bisatu, who cleverly kicked ahead and regathered over the line for an excellent try.

Woking briefly rallied as they returned to a full complement of players, scoring a good converted try beneath the posts. But Wilson drilled over a Warlingham penalty to calm any nerves from the home side before the biggest cheer of the day greeted evergreen prop-forward Alex Nunn’s try to seal the bonus point. A monster Cam Sharp hit won Warlingham a line out in the 22 and another unstoppable rolling maul saw Simon Townsend, Joe Kelly and Elliott Jones heaving the ball through the mud upfront. Nunn emerged with the ball and plunged over for a 5 pointer. Rumours this was Nunn’s first ever try for the club were unfounded but long memories were required and the distance travelled by Nunn increased substantially in the bar over the course of the evening. A fitting reward for the ultimate Warlingham stalwart.

The icing on the cake of a strong performance was provided by Dearden, who capped his man of the match display with an interception try from half way. Showing no signs of fatigue, the formidable number 8 raced away unopposed to the crowd and players delight and sprung over the line for try number five. Wilson stroked over the conversion, a 14 point haul for the stand off, and the referee ended the game with Warlingham on a high.

Thoughts turn to a visit to promotion chasing Cranleigh this week with the corresponding game a thriller decided in the last play. As spring arrives, Warlingham will look to finish the season on a high with their last 3 games at home and plenty to play for.

All photos: Hayley Sasserath
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