Walcountians do like to be beside the seaside

The Old Boys took just four minutes to open the scoring when fly0half Harry Wrightson wrong-footed the opponents and created the space for centre Ross Norton to stride through and touch down. Norton added the conversion to put Walcountians seven points up.

In the early stages, Eastbourne’s pack were a match for Walcountians in the set scrums. But in the lineouts and the loose, Walcountians were far superior and turned over possession at will, with Rob Fleming, Will Thornton, Joe Henderson and Ed Bellringer outstanding. Eastbourne also had great difficulty in containing Walcountians’ impressive trio of midfield backs in Harry Wrightson, Ross Norton, Dany Abou-Zeid and, after his introduction, Heath Bateman, who were instrumental in setting up the ten tries scored.

The Old Boys’ second try 17 minutes into the match came from a turnover which led to a threequarter move which No8 Jonny Evans joined and put in full-back Toby Bentley for a try. Unfortunately, Evans sustained a heel injury which forced him to leave the field.

The home side managed to contain Walcountians for the next 20 minutes but, as half-time approached, Walcountians ran in three tries which effectively broke Eastbourne’s resistance. The first, in the 37th minute, came when the pack shipped the ball out of a ruck close to the Eastbourne line and the ball was spread across the field to find speedy winger Andy Togbolah clear to race in for a try.

The next two tries came during time added on for injuries. The first, in the 45th minute, came from hooker Rob Fleming who touched down to finish a driving maul started from a lineout. Two minutes later, Walcountians were over the Eastbourne line again when Ross Norton and Toby Bentley joined forced to put Harry Wrightson in for a try.

Walcountians continued the tryfest in the second half and had added two more in the first ten minutes. The first came from Ross Norton who, in the fifth minute, snapped up loose ball and sprinted clear to touch down. Two minutes later, Toby Bentley scored his second try when he ran onto a pass after Harry Wrightson had once again opened a gap in the Eastbourne defence with his excellent footwork.

There was no letting up by the Old Boys who continued to hunt for more opportunities, and they ran in three more tries before full-time. Flanker Joe Henderson got on the scoresheet in the 16th minute, Ross Norton scored his third try in the 23rd minute and, as the match drew to a close, veteran prop Paul Harris scored his first try at this level when he backed up a threequarter move and drove over after a ruck formed.
 
Walcountians’ next match will be on 21 September when their League programme starts as they take on promoted Kingston. Kick off at Clock House, Woodmansterne will be at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Bentley, Fletcher-Rogers, Norton, Abou-Zeid, Togbolah, Wrightson, McMullen, Harris, Fleming, Claustres, Thornton, Thomas, Bellringer, Henderson (Joe), Evans.

Subs:- Bateman, Cole, Ford, Henderson (James).