London Two South East

Deal & Betteshanger 33

Warlingham 30

WARLINGHAM went down to a second successive narrow defeat at Deal & Betteshanger on Saturday, despite taking the lead with just six minutes remaining.

Wars started well when flanker Zak King made good ground into the Deal half, before an early long range penalty was converted by full-back Joe McEvoy to give Warlingham the lead.

Deal missed a penalty of their own shortly after, but that was soon forgotten when after twenty minutes, the home side scored a push over try from a five-metre scrum.

The try was converted and it was closely followed by a successful penalty, putting Deal in the driving seat.

However, the fit Warlingham pack forced several penalties from Deal and McEvoy again added three points.

Scrum-half, Jon Perkins, returning after a long period sidelined with injury, then scored his first try after good work from lock Luke Delderfield, with McEvoy adding the extras to even the scores going into half-time.

After the break, the penalty-strewn game lost its intensity, but after swapping successful penalties, Deal stretched the Warlingham defence to score an unconverted try by the right corner flag.

And Deal continued to pressurise the Warlingham line earning them another penalty.

Warlingham prepared for the kick at the posts but the Deal scrum-half caught the visitors napping - opting for a quick tap that led to a converted try, putting the home side 12 points ahead.

But despite the game appearing out of the Wars' grasp, the visitors fought back, camping out on the Deal line.

And the pressure told with Perkins diving over for his second try straight from a ruck, which was converted by McEvoy.

Warlingham now sensed victory and raised their game, showing excellent back line moves as they looked dangerous with the ball in hand.

And after several phases of play, centre Ben Wimble bounced through several Deal defenders to score a fine solo try.

McEvoy converted and Warlingham were now two points ahead with the clock running down.

But Deal were not done and their forwards found new energy to exert extreme pressure on the Warlingham try line. And despite some desperate defending, Deal scrambled a fourth, bonus point try in the dying stages.

With Warlingham then playing catch-up rugby for the remaining five minutes, Deal clung on to the advantage to seal only their third game of the season.

After the game, Wars captain James Agate, was not too disheartened, despite the defeat.

He said: "Deal are always difficult to play away and they deserved the win but I was proud that the lads came back from a 12 point deficit to run them close."

Next Saturday Warlingham face runaway league leaders East Grinstead.

Warlingham: Abou-Zeid, D Street, J Delderfield, L Delderfield, Robson, King, Murphy, Fair, Perkins, Agate, Osborne, T Street, Wimble, Saffery, McEvoy. Subs: Scutt, A Skinner, Campbell.