Firstly, commiserations and best wishes for a speedy recovery to two squad members who had to drop out at the last moment due to injury and illness: Fraser Wilson and Archie Watkins. Get well soon guys - and credit to those players who had to play out of position as a result, James Waghorn deserving particular credit both for stepping up to A team rugby and moving from wing to fullback.

This was the first league game of the season, against a Haslemere side who this summer dropped from Division 1 after 2 seasons there. A critical test for the season, and one where Wimbledon did not disappoint. There were a lot of lessons to be learned from today, particularly in how to deal with a very technical, sometimes even hard (we felt) but scrupulously even-handed ref. We were constantly pinged for infringements around the ruck, a useful pointer to the coaches for future training sessions. The drizzle began just about as the game kicked off and was pretty consistent through the whole game. The 2 minutes silence before the game was enhanced by 'The Last Post' coming from the clubhouse balcony - played (very well), as we later learned, by the Haslemere 12.

The first half began with even exchanges and was soon settling into the forwards battle that would dominate the match, not surprisingly given the conditions. The first three scrums were even and went with the put-in, and Damian Cherry-Fox put in a particularly good driving run early on. The Haslemere 12, who was to have an extremely eventful day overall, put in a great run and was unfortunate to knock on short of our line. Further pressure was relieved by a great kick from Max Tomlinson, chased up extremely well by Lucas Strauss. But more pressure in our half and our unbelievably high penalty count had the inevitable result as Haslemere opted to kick a penalty and put us 0-3 down. Having got the first few minutes out of their system, Wimbledon came back strongly - Max and Nic Shuttleworth doing some fine kicking and Lucas Strauss being stopped just short of their line after a great strong run. A rare penalty in our favour in the Haslemere half unfortunately didn't quite work for us and we were pushed back into our own - but we were able to retain the ball and release Rob Davies for a great breakaway try under their posts. This was converted by Aidan O'Brien to take us to 7-3 up. Haslemere responded immediately, putting great pressure on us with some good kicks - first into our left corner and then the right, the second move resulting in a try driven over by their forwards. With that unconverted, we were at 7-8 down with half time approaching, and not satisfied with that outcome. Some more good kicks from Wimbledon were chased down by wings Sam Codling and Lucas Strauss, Lucas being particularly unlucky to be pushed out just short of their line. The half was nearly rounded off in style when Nic made another excellent break, only to be hauled down by the typically strong Haslemere tackling. Haslemere were unlucky to go in at half time one point up but one man down, having had their player (12 again we think!) quite harshly penalised for a late tackle on James W.

Half time and 7-8 down, and a lecture from the ref about constant infringements, mainly around the ruck. We had been warned.

The second half began with a high kick to our left and more scrappy play dictated by the conditions. Louis Hogan came on at this point and put in an inspired and gutsy half of rugby. Sustained pressure saw us with a scrum about 20 metres out from the Haslemere line on the right, and Diogo Carvalho made an outstanding driving run to score. His school teammate Aidan had a far from straightforward kick to make - but make it he did, and those two points were to prove crucial. 14-8 up and with their heads up Wimbledon made another good move down their left, with Sam unlucky to be forced out. With the Haslemere yellow-carded player still off the pitch, Wimbledon then sustained two of their own in rapid succession. Diogo was first penalised for a rucking offence, and then Rob was unlucky to 'take one for the team' as the ref punished our high penalty count. When the Haselmere player came back to put us at a 2-man disadvantage, they were able to convert the pressure into a try on our right. From the sidelines it looked as if the player had dropped the ball over the line, but the ref was closest and the try stood. This being far enough out to make the conversion difficult, it was missed to leave us leading by only one point 14-13. We were able to bring on some fresh legs at this point, George Batchelor coming on to replace Diogo who had picked up an injury or two, and newcomer Jack Gleeson moving to hooker to free Dom Suckling to move to flank. Jack immediately won a scrum against the head for us, and continued to make an impressive league debut.

Haslemere were determined to reverse the scoreline and applied relentless pressure. With the drizzle still coming down and the ball slippery, there were dropped passes on both sides. Attempted kick-throughs by Haslemere were dropped on first by Dom Suckling and then again by captain James McGrath. With the clock ticking down, Haslemere obtained a penalty about half way in from the touchline. With the likely result resting on young shoulders, the Haslemere 12 (who else?) was unlucky to hook the ball left and leave Wimbledon in the lead. They were not finished yet, and with less than a minute left on the clock a great move out to their left was only halted by a superb, last-ditch, match-saving tackle by Lucas Strauss.

14 - 13 up when the final whistle blew, a hard-fought victory in conditions which did not suit our running game. Post-match celebrations were kicked off by singing in the Wimbledon changing room, and continued in slightly more subdued fashion upstairs as we were provided with a meal and refreshments by Haslemere RFC. Great hospitality from them, and many good-natured discussions between the two sets of coaches. We were able to compare notes and establish that these teams had last met at Under 11, and that we were all very interested to see how a game on a flat track and a dry day would have gone. Overall a great day of rugby, and this is a fixture I will attempt to repeat as a friendly in the future.