As with yesterday afternoon’s seasonal weather changes at Wildwood Lane, Reigate’s fortunes fluctuated between moments of sunshine and harsh freezing hail, which whipped across Cranleigh’s open fields for what felt like hours; it was a credit to all on the pitch that they played through this storm, whilst maintaining an entertaining spectacle.

With some experienced Blues players not available, this was always going to be a very tough fixture, and even if they had been available, it would still likely have been 'a bridge too far’ against a top three side, who have promotion within site, and a blend of youth and know-how belying their Surrey League 4 status.

So, despite a hefty defeat, our boys battled throughout, and whilst not troubling the scoreboard made Cranleigh work hard for most of the 80 minutes. Although, we competed across all areas of the game, especially in the first half, it was an early Cranleigh try and conversion that set the tone, and even a sustained period of Reigate encampment in the home side’s 22 did not bear fruit; another unconverted try put the half-time score at 12-0. A competitive opening period, but the loss of Mat in the front row, disrupted our cohesion, both in tight and loose, Shaun valiantly stepping in despite injury, and the ominous looking darkening skies foretold of further trouble ahead.

With changes made, during the break, our opponents ramped up the intensity and were hitting attacking lines of running, which we were struggling to deal with. Soon the score had doubled, and it was a damage limitation exercise from thereon in.

Our continued attempts to attack and to build momentum were thwarted by strong defence, Cranleigh rubbing salt into the already gaping metaphorical wounds with three more scores.

Individually, there is no blame to lay [a superior side made good use of their treasure trove of skills], with positive performances from the Reigate squad. Notables were George, who ran all afternoon and tackled wherever, whatever and whenever he could; likewise Dan Y, who put in some important midfield hits to slow the attackers down and there were forward charges from Neil, Phil, Wes and Dan B amongst others, with Robbie and Blessing showing willingness to take ball forward in the three-quarters.

As ever, Josh and Sami operated tirelessly, both in attack and defence, using experience and decision making to get us out of trouble and move us forward; Jason worked and worked – one marvels at his stamina; Tribs, Tiago and Harry all stepped up and are continuing to use this season’s steep learning curve to good effect.

The two players who stood out were Will and Toby. Will shows a coolness, appears to visualise the game skilfully and is solid in defence, whilst being elusive in attack; Toby is a handful for any opposition to contend with, making yards with ball in hand, that, by right, should not be made and tracking to make tackles that, by right, should not be made – how he gets back to cover is a mystery. His maturing this season, which does not mean he has lost any of the aggression in his play, has turned him into a very strong contender for player of the year and, hopefully, an important member of the Colley Lane set up for years to come.

With one more league game to play, this campaign is almost at an end, but it is not yet time to reflect on the highs and lows of this season. London Media will be a tough final league fixture, but it was a tough first league fixture, which was brilliantly handled by us…