Costly Errors KO 'Counts

Old Walcountians were brought back down to earth with a bump as a determined Old Caterhamians XV beat them in the final friendly before the start of the League season.

On paper, Walcountians should have won this fixture as they are two Leagues higher than their opponents. However, their failure to gel as a team proved costly and nullified fine individual efforts by the back row of Will Dunne, Joe Henderson and Gerry Connor. Throughout the game, Walcountians squandered territory, possession and try-scoring opportunities through failure to support in numbers, and this contributed to a large number of penalties awarded against them.

Walcountians nearly took an early lead when a penalty by fly-half Fred South was narrowly off target. However, Walcountians suffered an early setback losing lock Dom Bell with a serious cut to his head, and were to come under pressure bfrom a confident Caterhamians XV and their resistance eventually broke in the 15th minute when Caterhamians’ full-back ran onto an inside pass and touched down for a converted try.

Walcountians responded by upping their effort and a concerted effort by both forward and backs pinned the hosts in their own 22 for lengthy periods. However, it was not until the 35th minute that Walcountians opened their account when flanker Joe Henderson crossed for a try after taking a quick tap penalty. Fred South’s conversion drew the two sides level.

Walcountians had opportunities to take the lead in the second half, but too often these went begging through poor distribution or handling or through taking the wrong option which allowed Caterhamians the opportunity to clear their lines. A penalty from Caterhamians in the 35th minute of the second half made Wlcountians’ task even harder as they needed two scores to win. Two minutes later, their hopes were raised when scrum-half Callum Stone broke from the base of a ruck, found Liam Moorhead in support and set up Joe Henderson for his second try of the day. But that was to be Walcountians’ last response and two more tries for Caterhamians in stoppage time sealed victory.

Next Saturday, Walcountians open their Surrey League 1 campaign when they take on Old Wimbledonians at Clock House. Kick-off is at 3pm.

Old Walcountians:- Drinkwater, Moorhead (L), Walsh, Fairchild, Shaw, South, Stone, Howard, Grehan, Cowlin (S), Bell, Barnard, Dunne, Henderson, Connor.

Subs:- Back, Cowlin (P), Jaffer, Moorhead (S), Pemberton, Richardson, Simmonds (D), Simmonds (S).