My thoughts of Woking were somewhat clouded by very limited knowledge – Paul Weller’s acidic ‘Town Called Malice’, birthplace of Sean Lock, with his dark, deadpan humour and a terrible pantomime when Rob was little [‘Oh, no, it wasn’t!’… ‘Oh, yes, it really was!’] making up my prejudiced outlook. Alongside these, as the setting for War of the Worlds - well, nearby Horsell Common – it seemed that even an alien landing necessitated full-on destruction of the area.

My trepidation, however, was positively turned when we arrived on a classic winter’s afternoon [cold, but beautifully sunny] and spied various familiar faces on the touchline, alongside a Reigate squad that sensed there was a victory for the taking from the 80 minutes of contest.

The match commenced with a game of aerial ping-pong, both Sami and Josh covering and returning Woking’s clearances with clever kicks into spaces to put us on the front foot. Continued pressure almost saw a Blue try, with both Toby and Sami held up inches from the line, and it seemed as if there would be an early Christmas present of league points to enjoy. But, as is ever the case, enjoyment needs work, and Woking refocused and gained some ball with Robbie, Thomas and Toby, amongst others, putting in important hits; it was, though, Callum’s tackle on their crash ball centre, that really cemented what, for the most part, would be a faultless defensive performance.

Further Reigate breaks led to quick ball for Ross to scamper over the line and give the Colley Lane Boys a well-deserved lead. Shortly afterwards, our talented scrum half made a dart through the defence, and despite a last ditch tap tackle was able forward roll and double the points on the board with a try, duly converted by Josh.

Woking were engaging our usual trick of giving away penalties, which enabled us to mix and match options – quick taps, line outs and scrums all were put into practice - ground made by Toby with ball in hand, line outs working effectively and scrums against a heavier pack, going well.

It was from one of these penalty line outs, close to the Woking whitewash, that the forwards, with Phil at the helm, put pressure on and new dad, and now family chauffeur, Dan, burrowed over to take the score to 0-17.

As the first half headed towards its conclusion, we became, perhaps through over-confidence, a little less disciplined and a series of penalties allowed the opposition to make ground and burst through our defence to take the score to 7-17. The final noise of the opening period, however, belonged to the Blues as Elliot latched onto loose ball and with a jinking, mazy run scored unopposed.

The second forty commenced with a revitalised home side; the Reigate defence being tested on several occasions, but strong scrummaging, sturdy tackling and a line out steal all helped contain the onslaught and move us out of danger.

Having rebuffed the assaults, Reigate built their own attack again, the forwards powering, under Wes’s guidance, towards the opponents’ line, a score looking in no doubt, but Woking managed to summon all their strength and keep the line guarded. By this time Reigate had made substitutions [Barry on for Phil, Jamie for Elliot, Felix for Thomas and Tiago for Sami], which did not appear to change the tempo or state of mind – all performing as well as those replaced.

As the game headed towards the hour mark, there was still defending to be taken care of – Matt and Connor standing out, and Josh saving a certain try with a perfectly timed one-on-one tackle that just had to be made; it was during this stage of play that Blessing downed their supersize prop [picture David versus
Goliath], epitomizing the spirit of both young and not so young in the Reigate group.

Back in Woking territory, a stray clearance found Jamie on the wing. With excellent timing and weight of pass, he found Rob, who, thundering like the Polar Express, battered, stepped and out muscled all who stood in his way [and there were a few] - with no intention of stopping to take passengers on board! Josh added the extras to take the score to 7-29.

With barely a moment to breathe, Reigate were off again, in pursuit of more spoils. The Woking kick off was long, and despite Coach Pilgrim’s plea that ball be cleared, the Boys had other plans, with Josh breaking free, chipping over for Jamie to chase down and pressurise the last defender, so that Josh, himself, could collect the ball and score out wide.

Two stunning tries in two minutes, and, despite Woking adding another goal to their tally, there was still fuel left in the Reigate tank - Robbie, looking very comfortable at 10, powering over, after further Reigate bulldozing; and as the clock ticked down, one more gem in the Blues repertoire; movement through the hands, up the pitch [including Ross, Rob, Dan and Callum] found Toby, who rounded off a great afternoon with a deserved try – Josh’s kick took the final score to 14-46.

This match was a true spectacle, played in great spirit by both sides – hard but fair, with a referee who endorsed the spirit of the occasion admirably and kept the game flowing. Paul Weller may have called his hometown ‘Malice’, but he also wrote ‘That’s Entertainment’, and how right he was with that song title for this occasion.

Match report by Clive Cheal