For the third match in succession, Walcountians were caught cold in the first minute of the match when Chipstead prop Ryan Dupe barged his way over for a try set up from a lineout in the Counts’ 22. Fly-half Ed Bush added the conversion to make the score 7-0.

Walcountians did their best to fight their way back into the game after recovering from this early shock, but they were tested by a solid Chipstead pack who got the better of them in the set scrums during this early period and looked dangerous when breaking from set scrums and in the backs. It was thanks to a piece of outrageous enterprise by centre Dom Barnaby that the Counts drew level with Chipstead in the 26th minute. As a Chipstead threequarter move broke down, Barnaby hacked the ball forward and won the race to the tryline, full-back Jacob Appleyard adding the conversion.

Chipstead however remained a threat and tries by winger Owen Cawood and No 8 Luke Halford gave them a twelve-point lead by half-time.

Walcountians made a strong start to the second half and the introduction of James Ford at prop gave the front row more grunt. After several opportunities to take the lead went begging, Dom Barnaby scored his second try in the seventh minute when lock Kieran Clarke threw a long overhead pass to him.

The match seemed out of Walcountians reach after Luke Halford and Owen Cawood scored their second tries of the day to give Chipstead a nineteen-point lead 15 minutes into the second half. But the remainder of the second half was dominated by the Counts as their pack took charge of both the set scrums and the loose, with hooker Callum Tilleray, lock Kieran Clarke and replacement No 8 Jamie Blackmore putting in an excellent shift. Behind the scrum, the Counts backs began to stretch the Chipstead defence and three tries in the 19th, 21st and 25th minutes saw Chipstead’s lead reduced to two points. The first came from lock Olly Sanders who popped up on the left wing to take a pass from fly-half George Charnockand crash over to score. Charnock then got on the scoresheet two minutes later when he impressively wrong-footed the Chipstead defence with an outrageous dummy. The third try was equally impressive as Jacob Appleyard fielded an attempted clearance kick near the halfway line and outpaced the Chipstead defence to run in for his fourth try of the season.

When Appleyard banged over a penalty in the 39th minute, Walcountians were in the lead and facing the prospect of downing the colours of their local rival. However, Chipstead were determined to claim victory and broke Walcountians’ hearts a minute into stoppage time when a threequarter move started from second phase ball recycled from a ruck gave Owen Cawood the opportunity to score his third try of the day and give Chipstead a four-point win.

Next Saturday, Walcountians take on Metropolitan Police, who are one place above them in Counties League 2 Surrey. Kick-off at Walcountians’ home ground, Clock House, Carshalton Road, Woodmansterne is at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Appleyard, Togbolah, Beaubrun, Barnaby, Brown, Charnock (G), Moorhead, Marsh, Tilleray, Worsley, Sanders, Clarke, Charnock (S), Henderson, Stevens.

Subs:- Blackmore, Fletcher-Rogers, Ford.