There was little to separate the two teams in the first half and Alton gave Walcountians some heart-stopping moments as a combination of solid forward play and adventurous running by their backs forced the Old Boys to defend their line on several occasions. In the ninth minute, Alton took the lead when fly-half Joe Gwyther threaded his way through the Walcountians’ defence to touch down for a try.

Walcountians responded to the challenge and centre Harry Wrightson scored a levelling try in the 18th minute after the Old Boys’ pack drove forward and recycled the ball. Seven minutes later, the Counts were in the lead after fly-half Liam Cleary weaved his way through the Alton defence and was about to touch down when the ball was knocked out of his grasp. However, centre Dany Abou-Zeid was in close attendance to recover possession and touch down for a try which full-back Ross Norton converted.

Alton were far from out of the hunt and cut Walcountians’ lead to four points as the first half moved into stoppage time with a penalty from Joe Gwyther.

The second half however saw Walcountians tighten their grip on the game, helped by outstanding performances from hooker Callum Tilleray and flanker Tom Brown in the forwards and by new fly-half Liam Cleary, who proved a handful for the visitors. Alton suffered a setback when their full-back Finley Brown went off with an ankle injury three minutes into the second half. The difference between the two sides was that Walcountians ruthlessly took advantage of their opportunities whereas the Alton backline were contained by a rock-solid Counts defence.

A piece of sheer opportunism by scrum-half Seb Chmielinski extended Walcountians’ lead eight minutes into the second half, when he dived on a loose ball which squirted out of a 5-metre scrum close to the Alton line. Ross Norton added two more points with a conversion.

The game remained deadlocked between the two teams until the dying minutes when Walcountians finished off the game with two more tries. The first came in the 39th minutes when Seb Chmielinski and winger Dharshan Vadivelu combined to put the Counts other winger, Marvin Fletcher-Rogers, clear for a converted try. The second came in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Seb Chmielinski scored his second try of the day by running through a static and stunned Alton defence.

Next Saturday, Walcountians take on local rivals Warlingham who also started with a big win. Kick-off at Clock House, Carshalton Road, Woodmansterne, is at 3pm.