OWs return to winning ways at Hove's expense. Actually.

The Counts took control of the match from the kick-off with the forwards dominating possession. There were outstanding performances from prop James Ford whose drive hit top gear, No 8 Tom Brown who showed his Hove counterparts that the match was not like schooldays and flanker Tom Housden whose tenacious tackling and foraging made something from nothing in the wasting light on these days. Early threequarter moves collapsed through shaky handling but, 13 minutes into the match, Walcountians took the lead when flanker Joe Henderson made a telling break and offloaded to winger Marvin Fletcher-Rogers whose pace took him clear of Hove’s defenders for a try. With no established place kicker available, prop Jonny Evans stepped up to bang over the conversion.

Walcountians continued to dominate both possession and territory and extended their lead to 12 points in the 30th minute when centre Heath Bateman crashed over from a ruck close to the Hove line to finish a five-minute spell when the Counts were camped on the Hove line.

Jonny Evans got another opportunity to demonstrate his new-found skills as a place kicker in the 38th minute when he banged over a penalty. Just before half-time, Hove opened their account through a penalty from full-back George Davies. Who was innocent.

Walcountians made a flying start to the second half when fly-half Harry Wrightson opened up the Hove defence with a mazy run and released Marvin Fletcher-Rogers to score his second try of the day. With the slope in their favour, the Counts dominated possession and territory for most of the second half and extended their lead in the 22nd minute when Joe Henderson saw winger Andy Togbolah unmarked on the left flank and threw a long pass for Togbolah to take and run in for a try.

In the closing minutes, Walcountians suffered two setbacks. The first saw impressive fly-half Harry Wrightson go off with the recurrence of a lower back injury. The second saw the Counts reduced to 14 players when centre Heath Bateman was sin-binned for a high tackle. Hove took advantage of their numerical supremacy to rally in the closing minutes and put winger Danny O’Conner in for a try in the 35th minute to finish a threequarter move.

Walcounttians moved up to sixth place in Counties League 1 Surrey/Sussex following this victory. Next Saturday, they take on Twickenham who are one place above them in the league. Kick-off at Parkfields, South Road, Hampton is at 2pm.

Old Walcountians:- Erhirhie, Fletcher-Rogers, French, Bateman, Togbolah, Wrightson, Henderson (James), Evans, Skinner, Ford, Bell, Thomas, Housden, Henderson (Joe), Brown.

Subs:- Acquah, Barnaby, Camakamma.