Following defeats on consecutive weekends, Old Caterhamians were looking to put the two losses behind them and return to their early season form as they faced a trip to local rivals Warlingham RFC.

Cats opposition suffered a 50-13 defeat in the reverse fixture back in September so would be hoping to make amends on their home ground.

On a cold damp afternoon the match got underway with Cats welcoming back Will Buxton and Mikyle Woolford who was making a first start of the season at hooker.

After significant rain during the week it was clear that the soggy pitch would be hard going and it was cat and mouse for the first fifteen minutes until Cats pressure eventually broke the deadlock.

After several phases of open play fly half Seaghan Davey feed the ball to Tom Clayton who powered through Warlingham’s defensive line to score and Tom was back among the points when he converted a penalty to give Cats an eight point lead.

Conditions weren’t making it easy for both teams but a well-worked team try increased Cats lead. From a lineout close to the five-metre line some good handling by the backs saw the ball swiftly worked down the line for winger Kristian Taylor to score.

Cats now lead 0-13 going into half-time.

Early in the second half, after a scrum on the five-metre line and a couple crash balls by centre George Perry, scrum-half Zach Rhodes fed Tom Clayton who dived through a gap to score his second try of the afternoon. Tom’s conversion increased Cats lead to 0-20

It was clear that Warlingham were struggling with Cats physical dominance although no points were scored for the next 15 minutes.

Then a moment of magic. Cats won a lineout on the 22, Seaghan Davey anticipated a great line by George Perry who then flipped a pass out of the back of his hand to replacement flanker James Mitchell who scored to claim an elusive bonus point. Tom Clayton pinged over the conversion and Cats now lead 0-27.

But it wasn’t to be a whitewash. Towards the end of the game some sloppy defending by Cats after a Warlingham five-metre scrum lead to the home side going over the line to make it 5-27.

Undeterred by their lapse in concentration Cats finished on a high. James Mitchell grabbed his second after another powerful crash ball from George Perry and as Warlingham defended the ruck poorly the flanker picked the ball up and scored.

Tom Clayton’s successful conversion wrapped up an excellent all round team performance with Cats securing their ninth victory of the season.

Full time score: Warlingham 5-34 Old Caterhamians

After the match coach Steve Wagstaff was in a buoyant mood.
‘Really really happy, one to eighteen fronted up and they also fronted up at training which showed on the pitch. We had consistency in the lineout, the hands of the boys in really awful conditions was fantastic and players like Mikyle turning up at 2 and just nailing it … I was really happy with him. Credit to Warlingham, they are a decent hard team and deserved their try but after our two poor performances against Old Ruts and Chipstead it’s a great end to the year and we look forward to 2024.’

Cats maintain fourth position in Counties 2 Surrey moving eight points clear of fifth placed Purley John Fisher and only four points behind Chipstead.

With the year drawing to a close Cats next match will be at home against Law Society on Saturday 6th January 2024.