OWs see victory snatched from their grasp

Injuries and unavailabilities saw Walcountians take the field without the services of two key forwards in Dom Bell and Remy Claustres, but their replacements all had 1st XV experience.

Walcountians got a valuable three points from the boot of full-back Ross Norton after just three minutes because they spent the next 20 minutes repelling a powerful Amplefordians XV which got the upper hand of possession. Fierce defensive tackles, in which prop Ben Anderson and No 8 Ollie Dodwell excelled, kept the home side at bay until the 20th minute when they opened the scoring with a try from a rolling maul.

This sparked Walcountians into action. Although having the smaller pack, the massive physical presence of Ben Anderson in the Walcountians front row destroyed the Amplefordians scrummage, while excellent rucking and ball carrying by Walcountians, with Ollie Dodwell and lock Joe Henderson outstanding, saw them turn the tables in both possession and territory. Walcountians were also well-served by fly-half Ed Armitage who kicked with precision and set up Walcountians’ threequarters in attack. It was Armitage who set up Walcountians’ first try in the 37th minute by chipping the ball over the heads of the Amplefordians backline and recovering possession to release centre Dharshan Vadivelu who broke away to put last season’s top try scorer, Marvin Fletcher-Rogers, in for a try which Ross Norton converted.

Walcountians were close to scoring again four minutes later when scrum-half Seb Chmielinski was held up on the line. A penalty from Ross Norton seven minutes into stoppage time gave Walcountians an eleven-point half-time lead.

Inattentiveness proved costly for Walcountians as Amplefordians closed the gap with a try from their open-side flanker four minutes into the second half And the same player crossed for a second try after 21 minutes putting Amplefordians back in front.
The match proved costly for both sides with no less than four players having to leave the field for attention to injuries. As the 80-minute mark approached, Walcountians threw on replacement winger Dom Barnaby who had made a massive impact last season, and it was Barnaby who appeared to have won the match for Walcountians with a trademark spectacular break from the 10 metre line after Ross Norton flung a long pass to him.

Unfortunately, for Walcountians, Amplefordians were far from finished and used the full 10 minutes of stoppage time to seize victory. The winning move came in the 49th minute when their No 8 broke the Walcountians defensive line to touch down.

Next Saturday, Walcountians take on Sussex League 1 opponents Seaford in the RFU Junior Vase at Clock House.

Old Walcountians:- Norton, Fletcher-Rogers, Vadivelu, Kennedy, Bellringer, Armitage, Chmielinski, Evans, Fleming, Anderson, Thomas, Henderson, Wrightson, Dunne, Dodwell.
Subs:- Barnaby, Bell (Dan), McMullen