1st XV
Matches
Sat 15 Jan 2022  ·  London 3 South West
Andover
20
24
Old Walcountians RFC
1st XV
Counts return with a win

Counts return with a win

Rob Murphy20 Jan 2022 - 21:14
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Old Walcountians shook off the rust of a month’s inactivity by defeating Andover for the second time this season in last Saturday’s top of the table clash.

Walcountians welcomed back three players – flankers Tom Brown and Rob Fleming and scrum-half Seb Chmielinski – from long-term injury absences and all played a major part in the Counts’ victory. The Counts dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes and too the lead when winger Dharshan Vadivelu won the race to Chmielinski’s well-placed chip kick and touched down.

Andover were however to prove difficult opponents and had a strong and well-drilled pack who drove play into the Walcountians half. After 21 minutes, they drew level when their left-winger rode two attempted tackles to touch down in the corner.

The match continued to be played at a high tempo, with Andover’s pack having the edge in the set scrums and Walcountians proving more effective in the loose where they secured several turnovers. As half-time approached, it was Walcountians who drove home their advantage with two superbly taken tries. The first, in the 35th minute, came from a clever pre-rehearsed move when fly-half Liam Cleary launched a cross-kick to the right wing which centre Harry Wrightson gathered, then swerved past two attempted tackles to touch down under the posts, full-back Ross Norton adding the conversion. Then six minutes later, it was Norton’s turn to score a brilliant solo try after taking an inside pass from Dharshan Vadivelu and outpacing the Andover defence. At half-time, the Counts held a 14-point lead.

This lead disappeared in the space of three minutes after the start of the second half when Andover launched a two-try blitz which cut 10 points off the Counts lead. With the slope in their favour, Andover looked on course to overrun Walcountians. However, Walcountians were to show character and resilience and fought their way back into the game. In the 10th minutes, Walcountians secured a bonus point when Seb Chmielinski took a pass from prop Remy Claustres and broke from the 10 metre line to outpace a stunned Andover defence and touch down.
Aggressive rucking by the Walcountians pack, with hooker Callum Tilleray, Remy Claustres and Rob Fleming prominent, and strong defensive tackling by the Walcountians backs kept Andover at bay for most of the second half and the hosts only managed one more try in stoppage time.

Next Saturday, Walcountians take on Trojans at Clock House, Carshalton Road, Woodmansterne, kicking off at 2pm.

Old Walcountians:- Norton, Vadivelu, Wrightson, Abou-Zeid, Stylianou, Cleary, Chmielinski, Evans, Tilleray, Claustres, Thornton, Thomas, Brown, Fleming, Lawrence.

Subs:- Bellringer, Selvarajah, Togbolah.

Match details

Match date

Sat 15 Jan 2022

Kickoff

TBC

Competition

London 3 South West

League position

4
Old Walcountians
5
Andover
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt Sponsor - Opus Cleaning
Shirt Sponsor - Vadivelu Group
Shirt Sponsor - Roach Brothers Ltd
Shirt Sponsor - Moorhead Construction & Landscaping
Shirt Sponsor - Aorta
Shirt Sponsor - Dodwells LTD.
Shirt Sponsor - FPS Arborist