OWs slay local rivals to maintain lead position

The Old Boys made a flying start and were twelve points up after just five minutes through two quickfire tries. The first came from a threequarter move in which centre Ross Norton cut through the Chipstead backline to touch down. The second came from a rolling maul which saw hooker Rob Fleming go over.

The Chipstead pack proved strong opponents for Walcountians and they had the Old Boys under considerable pressure in the middle part of the first half as their expertise in supporting forward drives and rolling mauls pushed Walcountians back towards their own line. But the Old Boys’ defence proved rugged and watertight although the visitors managed to breach it in the 22nd minute with a try from a tap penalty.

Walcountians’ response was to grab the match by the scruff of the neck and push Chipstead back towards their own line. The front row of Paul Harris, Rob Fleming and Remy Claustres increasingly got the better of their Chipstead counterparts in the set scrums, while excellent foraging and driving play, led by Rob Fleming and No8 Jonny Evans, drove the Old Boys forward. Behind the scrum, half-backs Harry Wrightson and Seb Chmielinski put in a series of well-judged tactical kicks to support their pack.

As half-time approached, Walcountians turned a narrow advantage into a solid cushion with two well-taken tries. The first came in the 34th minute when winger Marvin Fletcher-Rogers stretched open the Chipstead defence and found full-back Toby Bentley inside him to run in to touch down. The second, five minutes into stoppage time, was again started by Fletcher-Rogers who opportunistically booted the ball upfield when it went loose and chased it. Although he was checked, scrum-half Seb Chmielinski was on hand to touch the ball down. Both tries were converted by Ross Norton.

Any thoughts that Chipstead would have an easier second half with the slope in their favour were soon dispelled by an increasingly confident Walcountians. The Old Boys continued to dominate possession and territory for most of the half and ran in two more tries to seal victory. The first came in the 14th minute when burly prop Remy Claustres took an offload from flanker Joe Henderson and barrelled his way over the tryline to touch down. The second came in the 37th minute when Jonny Evans peeled across the field to join a threequarter move and punctured the Chipstead defensive cover to touch down. Ross Norton added the conversions.

After two matches, Walcountians are top of Surrey League 1. They now take a three-week break from League matches and are next in action on 19 October when they take on Old Freemen’s at Ashtead Park. Kick-off is at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Bentley, Fletcher-Rogers, Norton, Bateman, McMullen, Wrightson, Chmielinski, Harris, Fleming, Claustres, Thornton, Thomas, Le Masurier, Henderson, Evans.

Subs:- Anderson, Vadivelu.