Warlingham 10 v 10 Hove

A last minute penalty missed in front of the posts was the saviour of Warlingham's unbeaten run as they drew 10-10 with Hove.

With captain Tony Williams unavailable and regular first teamers Dan Street and Aaron Beesley injured, this was always going to be a difficult fixture for the Hamsey Green side.

Going into the game second in the League but with Hove on equal points, a win for either side would keep the pressure on League leaders Tonbridge.

Playing in only his third game for Warlingham the captaincy went to former Old Midwive, Mark Macaskill at No 8 and his pack were under severe pressure right from the kick off.

Hove had the better of the first quarter but even with all the possession and territory they were kept at bay by solid defending.

Flanker Neil Robson and fly half Miles Waud stood out with some bone crunching engagements with their opposition.

A break out by scrum half Ryan Walsh followed by a high kick ahead put Warlingham into the opposition half.

An ugly bounce left the Hove winger stranded as Warlingham's Jon Osborne snapped up the ball and scored a try.

James Agate missed the conversion.

Hove flooded back into the Warlingham half and were awarded a penalty for offside.

The Hove kicker hit the post and Warlingham were able to clear their lines.

Warlingham added to the pressure themselves by kicking poorly from defence and gifting the ball to an accomplished Hove back division who ran back relentlessly at them.

From one such wayward kick Hove broke through the midfield and scored a converted try giving them a brief lead.

This stirred the home side who chased up the restart and when Robson stole the ball a deft pass to centre Liam Brown gave him some space and he glided over for Warlingham's second score. Agate again missed the kick.

The second half remained a tense affair and when a Hove lock was yellow carded for persistent offside Warlingham should have taken advantage of the extra man.

But for the second time in two weeks they failed to do so and their misery was compounded when they were adjudged to be in front of the kicker when they had a penalty shot and the chance to seal the game was spurned.

A successful Hove penalty evened the scores as the game went into the final quarter.

Poor lineout ball and several knock-ons came into Warlingham's game as they fought desperately to break the deadlock.

Late in the game full back substitute Ben Wimble tried hard to break out of defence but his efforts only resulted in a penalty for holding onto the ball and it looked as if Warlingham were to lose this titanic clash.

The missed penalty signaled the end of the game after which Warlingham's head coach, Steve Wagstaff said: "We definitely got out of jail today.

"We didn't stick to our game plan and we forced the play too much. We have much to learn from this match."

Warlingham fielded five teams last Saturday, a testament to their recruiting successes in the Summer and their strong youth section. They have also recently been re-credited with the coveted Seal of Approval Mark from the RFU and Sport England.