The Met made the three mile trip to Chessington to take on Kingston with some trepidation. The midweek Police Cup game plus various other injuries and extractions meant the Met travelled with a bare 15 players on the team sheet. The likelihood of a successful afternoon seemed small, containment being the buzzword. Director of Rugby, Jake Cottrell pulled on the No9 shirt to make his first appearance for some time, against one of last season's stronger League Two clubs. Then one of the Met's front row failed to appear. Fifteen became fourteen at 3pm.
The Met kicked off in bright sunshine and immediately went about turning expectations on their head. The Kingston outside half had his clearance kick charged down by Will Jarrett but the ball crossed the dead ball line before he could touch it down. It was an early indicator of the Met's determination to be anything but the whipping boys. Kingston continued to struggle to clear their lines. On 7 minutes the Met took a tap penalty some 30metres out and a powerful midfield charge by centre Huw Longden created the space for the ball to be moved from left to right for prop Sam Bailey to run in the first try in the right hand corner, and have his membership of the front row union seriously questioned.
The unexpected lead proved to be no fluke. The Met continued to dominate territory and Kingston were unable to gain any superiority in the tight. Both sets of backs struggled with their handling, punctuating play with a high set-piece count. Kingston's desperation to exert some control resulted in a number of penalties against the home side, offering Sam Druce the opportunity to keep the Met deep in Kingston's half. The lineout from one such penalty kick to the corner resulted in Jake Cottrell emerging with the ball from the bottom of a catch and drive, doubling the Police lead.
From the restart, Kingston had their first spell in the Met's 22. A lengthy injury stoppage following an injury to Kingston's No12 was followed by a scrum 7 metres out. The Kingston No8 picked up from the base to score by the posts. A rather simple conversion was missed but at least the hosts had their first score, with the Met now leading 5-14. It also gave Kingston confidence that the pick-and-go was the most profitable game-plan. From Met's re-start they used the tactic well to make some 90 metres, only a fantastic last ditch tackle by skipper Healy preventing another score. Kingston infringed at the breakdown and Met went straight up the other end for Rory Payn to touchdown for the Met's third try.
A fumble from the re-start enabled Kingston to enjoy their most sustained period of pressure without being able to break through the Met's defence and the hooped shirts continually drew the referee's ire when the try-line was in sight. At least the attacking pressure was enough to force Cottrell from the field, with full-back Atherton stepping into the scrum-half berth. But still they could not breach the increasingly thin blue line. A magnificent steal by Routledge as Kingston drove over the Met's 22 enabled quick hands to put Payn in space from some 70 metres and he sprinted away to score the bonus point try under the posts, just as the half ended. The Met had played a remarkable first-half; not only were they playing a magnificent defensive game without a flanker, they kept their line intact with just thirteen men on the pitch, and achieved a 28-5 scoreline.
Kingston were not demoralised by any stretch of imagination and they continued to contribute to a game which was far more competitive that the scoreline would suggest. It was their inability to retain possession with the Police line in sight that was Kingston's greatest undoing but of course that was a great testament to the Met's massive effort. Healy was unlucky not to extend the Met's lead in the opening minutes of the second half but it was Kingston who got the scoreboard turning again with a try on 50 minutes having raised their game and producing consistency with possession that had been hitherto unseen. The Met scrum began to struggle a little under weight of numbers and Kingston's No8 was again making in-roads as the Met's lightweight backrow and inexperienced No9 struggled to contain him. He scored a well-deserved try on the hour mark.
The Met were quick to respond. They piled into the Kingston half and although the defenders secured a couple of set pieces, more handling errors facilitated rapid turnovers and Jarrett, finding himself in the inside centre channel, put away Huw Longden to once again extend the Met's lead. And they still kept coming. Dylan Richards caught the restart and stormed upfield; the ball whistled through six pairs of hands as Cormac Healy looped round Jarrett to run in another try. Sam Druce showed a remarkable turn of speed to notch up a try of his own, Rory Payn ran in another long-range effort to complete his hat-trick, and the Kingston heads visibly dropped. Huw Longden could forego a four man overlap to dive in for his second try before Kingston managed to find one more flourish to score a wonderful converted try under the posts. Not content with a try bonus point, Kingston went in search of a moral victory, but a dropped ball saw Longden swoop and run away for his hat-trick as the clock went red. Remarkably, Sam Druce completed a 100% conversion rate of the Met's ten tries and a personal tally of 25 points.
It was a remarkable performance by the Met, who played for over an hour with just 13 on the pitch. Kingston contributed valiantly, and the game was played in tremendous spirit. The Met's intrepid XIII defended like demons whilst running hard and direct with ball in hand. It was by no means a perfect performance but it should put serious fear into the rest of Surrey 2.