Local derby win puts OWs back on track

The match saw a lot of effort and grit but not much in the way of flowing rugby as a heavy pitch took its toll on creativity. The home side belied their lowly League position and took the game to the Counts from the kick-off, and it took determined defensive tackling by Walcountians to keep Chipstead at bay. However, it was the Counts who drew first blood after just five minutes when full-back Toby Bentley crossed the line for a try which centre Ross Norton converted.

Six minutes later, Chipstead drew level. Walcountians were penalised for engaging early at a set scrum and Chipstead took advantage to take play to the Walcountians line, where a ruck formed and, from which, the Chipstead pack drove over for a converted try.

Walcountians spent most of the first half defending their line, which was a concern as they had both the slope and wind in their favour. A further setback was the loss of Toby Bentley with an injury; veteran centre Heath Bateman came on as a replacement with Ross Norton moving to full-back.

However, the second half saw Walcountians seize the initiative and it was Chipstead’s turn to be forced on the defensive. The Counts were also boosted by the return from injury as a replacement of forceful prop Remy Claustres, and Claustres, along with skipper Will Thornton and No8 Joe Henderson, were most prominent in driving play forward. Behind the scrum, the biggest impact was caused by Heath Bateman who proved a handful for the Chipstead defence. It was Bateman who made a significant contribution to Walcountians’ winning score in the 15th minute when he opened a large gap in Chipstead’s defence and found fellow centre Tom McMullen in support to offload to prop Jonny Evans, who shook off the remaining Chipstead defenders to touch down for a try under the posts. Ross Norton added two more points with a conversion.

The rest of the match was inconclusive as Walcountians and Chipstead cancelled each other’s efforts out. Chipstead missed out on an opportunity to narrow the scores in the 17th minute when a long-range penalty was off target. The closing minutes of the match were marred by increasing niggle between the packs which led to a brawl breaking out and, in the dying minutes, Chipstead were reduced to 14 players after a sin-binning for an attempted trip on Walcountians fly-half Harry Wrightson.

Walcountians remain in second place in Surrey League 1, having narrowed the gap with leaders Law Society to three points. But Walcountians are facing a challenge for the runners-up slot from Teddington and Kingston, both of whom won and are closing in on the Counts.

Walcountians are back in action next Saturday when they take on Old Freemen’s. Kick-off at their Clock House ground is at 2pm.

Old Walcountians:- Bentley, Vadivelu, Norton, McMullen, Togbolah, Wrightson, Chmielinski, Evans, Fleming, Anderson, Thornton, Thomas, Le Masurier, Bellringer, Henderson.

Subs:- Bateman, Claustres, Rees.