Third successive win for Counts as they consolidate league position

The first 20 minutes of the match saw no score as two well-matched sides cancelled each other out. The visitors had the edge in the set scrums, but the Counts made good ground in the loose where hooker Callum Tilleray and locks Pete Thomas and Olly Sanders were prominent in carrying the ball.

Walcountians were the first to break the deadlock after 20 minutes when mercurial winger Omarie Brown took an offload from Andy Togbolah, who was playing in the back row due to injuries to regular players, and sidestepped his way past three attempted tacklers to score a try under the posts. Scrum-half Seb Chmielinski added the conversion.

As the first half progressed, East Grinstead began to edge their way back into the game. A penalty in the 31st minute from fly-half Ollie Billin and a converted try in the 40th minute from full-back Sam Spriddell after winger Jake Radcliffe made the initial break put the visitors in front.
Walcountians however responded with a second try and restored their lead by the break. Full-back Eji Erhirhie led a counter-attack from his own half and found winger Marvin Fletcher-Rogers in support to set up centre Alex French to run in and touch down.

The second half was barely three minutes old when the Counts extended their lead. A clever switch of the direction of play by Seb Chmielinski extended the East Grinstead defence and prop Dom Bell stormed up in support to take the final pass and crash over to score.

Walcountians extended their lead to 14 points in the 18th minute when they were awarded a penalty try, but East Grinstead then mounted a fightback which resulted in a forwards’ try from a rolling maul in the 24th minute and a further Ollie Billin penalty in the 29th minute which cut the Counts’ lead to six points.

The Counts’ response was to run in two more tries as their direct running found gaps in the visitors’ defence. The first, in the 34th minute, came from skipper Joe Henderson who joined the threequarters and finished off a move started by wingers Omarie Brown and Marvin Fletcher-Rogers. Then five minutes later, replacement prop Michael Acquah scored his third try in as many games when he got on the end of an offload from Omarie Brown who had left the East Grinstead defence grasping at thin air.

East Grinstead scrum-half Harry White scored their third try from a tap penalty three minutes into stoppage time, but it was too late to salvage the game.

The match was preceded by a tribute from both clubs to Matt Ratana, the former East Grinstead coach who had also played for Walcountians previously, and who had been murdered in 2020 while serving with the Metropolitan Police.

Walcountians have no match next week but return to action on 4 November when they take on unbeaten League leaders Teddington. Kick-off at Dora Jordan Road, Hampton is at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Erhirhie, Brown, French (A), Barnaby, Fletcher-Rogers, Wrightson, Chmielinski, Bell, Tilleray, Harris, Thomas, Sanders, Togbolah, Henderson, Bellringer.

Subs:- Acquah (used), French (B) (used, Moorhead (not used).