Warlingham head coach Ben Stobart admitted his side's respect for the unbeaten pace-setters of London Division Two South East, cost them the points after a 20-8 defeat.

Jack Green's try and a Joe McEvoy penalty were all Warlingham had to show for their endeavours against Deal & Betteshanger as their own two-match winning streak ended.

Stobart said: “We gave them too much respect in the first half and that proved to be our downfall.

"The second half proved that we can compete with every club in this league but we have to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together for the full 80 minutes.”

Warlingham endured a major setback after only three minutes when fly-half James Agate broke his right hand after a collision with a loose boot; he was replaced by young Finton Morris who did well for his first full game.

Although Warlingham were first to score through a well-struck McEvoy penalty, the rest of the first half belonged to the visitors.

They gained a good deal of worthwhile possession and scored two converted tries and two penalty goals to rack up 20 points within 35 minutes.

They remained in complete control until just before half time when a game-changing event occurred.

For the first time in three matches, the Warlingham scrum locked out and shoved the opposing scrum a hefty few yards backwards and this set the scene for a very different second period.

After the break, Alban Edwards replaced Murtagh at scrum-half and the hosts began to take the game to the league leaders.

Nick Ray and Kieron Scutt made noticeable drives as Warlingham began to put several phases of flowing rugby together.

This caused the visitors to transgress and give away penalties as they defended frantically.

The front row of Alex Nunn, Ant Abou-Zaid and Scutt were now in full control at the set scrummage as Warlingham mounted sustained attacks on the Deal line.

One such phase allowed Morris to float a pass out to winger Green who completed the score in the left-hand corner. McEvoy was short with the conversion but despite further valiant efforts, this turned out to be the final score of the afternoon.

There is a free week this coming Saturday, before a return to league action on October 26 at Sevenoaks.