Pompey chimes silenced as OWs keep in touch with leaders

The Counts found Pompey to be difficult opponents who played with a lot of spirit and they were indebted to fine performances from skipper Will Thornton and No8 Remy Claustres in the forwards and scrum-half Seb Chmielinski whose tactical kicking regularly drove the Counts upfield. The only score came in the 15th minute when Remy Claustres put Will Thornton in for a try in the right-hand corner.

Walcountians faced a potentially difficult second half in having to play up the Clock House slope and into the face of a considerable breeze, but they opened the second half with a bang by running in two tries. Winger Marvin Fletcher-Rogers, playing his first match since returning from a four-month layoff due to injury, made up for lost time by scoring the first in the opening minute of the second half by spectacularly outpacing the Pompey defence on the right-hand flank. Fletcher-Rogers also played a major part in setting up Walcountians’ second try two minutes later when he opened up the Pompey defence to put replacement full-back Dom Barnaby in for a try which Barnaby converted.

Walcountians did not have everything their own way but solid defensive tackling kept the visitors at bay and, in the 22nd minute they scored their fourth try which secured a bonus point. Replacement prop Dom Bell made the first move with a driving run into the Pompey pack, from which he set up a ruck. Seb Chmielinski whipped the ball away to centre Dharshan Vadivelu who cut through the Pompey defence like a knife through butter to give the return pass for the supporting Chmielinski to run in for a try which Dom Barnaby converted.

The visitors refused to give up despite the Counts holding a commanding lead and ran in two tries in the 35th and 41st minutes to add some respectability to the scoreline.

Next Saturday, Walcountians take on relegation-threatened Basingstoke in a match which will be critical for the home side who need the points to avoid the drop. Kick-off at Down Grange, Kempshott is at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Norton, Fletcher-Rogers, Vadivelu, Abou-Zeid, Stylianou, Sparks, Chmielinski, Evans, Camakamma, Harris, Thonton, Thomas, Lawrence, Housden, Claustres.

Subs:- Barnaby, Bell, Henderson.