The first league game of the season kicked off in almost perfect conditions, but for the still too firm ground. There followed a game too close to call and too exciting to look away from, with Wimbledon ending up on the wrong end of the narrowest of defeats; but with their heads high and having been in the lead twice.

If I have missed a particular incident, my apologies but I spent a considerable portion of the game helping Carol (thanks Carol!) with the various injuries. We don't believe we have any long-term injuries ourselves, and we are told that the Effingham player who left in an ambulance is in fact fine now. Our thanks to Jim Green and Badger for helping out with pre-game drills and to Martin Parker for refereeing.

The game began as it was to go on - with solid defence from both sides, fierce rucking and evenly-matched scrums. There were early runs from Aidan O'Brien and Dom Suckling, solid tackling from Connor Coleman (playing his first game for us, and starting out of position on the wing), and some strong counter-rucking with both Cameron Wilkinson and Matt Rogers managing to steal Effingham ball. As the tide started to turn against us, Archie Watkins took a superb catch to snuff out an Effingham kicking move, and then made a textbook tackle to stop a great run from their centre. However the pressure told when a couple of missed tackles let the same player through to score under the posts: 0-7 down. Archie was off the field for some minutes afterwards but was able to return later.

Wimbledon reacted well, pushing the opposition back into their own half and constant pressure gained a penalty for us 20m from their line. Quick thinking allowed James McGrath to score one of his trademark tries by driving over under their posts with a strong run. Archie converted to take us to 7-7, and with Wimbledon on a roll James M made ground with another run to take us into their half again. An offence around the ruck gave us a penalty a few metres inside the Effingham half. With the wind swirling and against us, there was considerable surprise from the Effingham coaches when we opted to kick. They soon realised why when Archie put over a superb kick which would have still cleared if he'd been another 20 yards back. Ahead for the first time in the game at 10-7.
Effingham came back strongly and the game intensified, with injuries on both sides adding several minutes to the game time. Having forced us back to a scrum on our own line, Effingham swept the ball out to their right to go over in the corner, taking us into half time 10-12 down.

The second half began with Effingham continuing this period of pressure, and it was only a try-saving tackle from Charlie McKibben in our right corner which prevented an early score. As we started to come back, Eslam Djennad joined the ranks of the wounded after making a crunching tackle and Ellis Morgan made the first of several hard-yards runs. However Effingham again managed to put the ball through hands superbly out to their right, and went over in the corner again: 10-17 down. Wimbledon responded with our own best period of the match, beginning with some relentless pressure to force a penalty 40 yards out. This time Archie narrowly missed, but shortly afterwards Dom Suckling was able to pick up the ball from a ruck, run around half of the Effingham team and score under the posts. Converted of course to take us to 17-17. With the wind in our sails, a great move on the right saw Cameron Wilkinson chip an intelligent ball over the heads of the Effingham defence but just fail to reach it before the defenders with more than a hint of being impeded. With Wimbledon still pressurising, we again won a penalty within kicking range and Archie did just that, taking us into the lead for the second time: 20-17 up.

Effingham however came back once more, moving the ball through several phases with excellent offloading technique. Having pushed us back to a scrum 5 yards from our line, they were able to drive over for a try. 20-22 down but with several minutes to go because of all the injuries. A series of ultimately unsuccessful Wimbledon attacks followed, with Diogo Carvalho particularly unlucky when his attempted kick through was cleared, and Aidan O'Brien making some driving runs. It was not to be however, and the game came to a close with us still 2 points down.

Well done to everyone who played today, and apologies to those who didn't get onto the pitch. It is a credit to our club and our players that several of the Effingham coaches commented on the welcome they had had, the spirit in which the game was played and the absence of the 'niggle' that was a constant factor in their games last season. In short - this is how the game of Rugby should be played, and how we aspire to play it at Wimbledon. Thanks to all of you for helping to maintain that tradition.

Next week is a friendly with a strong B focus, away at Guildford. Anyone who did not get onto the pitch today will certainly play. Details to follow as I get them from Guildford.