Met Police can curse their inability to train on a regular basis as they contrived to lose a match where they held the upper hand in most departments. To add grist to the mill, close rivals Chipstead walked away with a try bonus point and the Met could never get close to a losing bonus point, despite spending swathes of both halves on the visitors' try line.
Chipstead boast an outstanding record against the Met but arrived at Imber Court with a much changed XV from previous seasons. Nevertheless, Chipstead must be looking at a top three finish, and they will be very pleased to have left with all 5 points. Chipstead always looked dangerous when the ball found its way to the outside backs, but it will be a cause for concern that their scrum was decimated by the Police pack.
The opening quarter indicated a close fought game, although initially the visitors appeared a little stronger up front and more supportive in the contact areas. The Met were solid at the lineout and, with stand-in skipper Sam Druce pulling the strings, Jarrett and Dalley looked like a promising partnership in the midfield. Unfortunately, it was a mistake in the midfield that led to Chipstead's first try. As Met looked to run out of defence, Jarrett passed the ball straight to Chipstead's Ed Bush who was running back to his own line. Although Bush was brought down short of the Met line, Chipstead swung the ball back to the left for Flynn McRobbie to touch down in the corner.
It was a frustrating concession and the Met retaliated with a period in the Chipstead half. Although there were several surges toward the defenders' goal line, the Met lacked both the composure and the teamwork to turn pressure into points. Another handling error in the three-quarters was again capitalised upon by Chipstead, this time running out of their own half for full-back Kieran Green to run in the second try unopposed. Bush added the conversion. In the meantime, Met lost backrow forward Ahmed Mohammed to injury. It affected the Met's mobility but the arrival of Richard Borries who came in at loose head, with Chris Padman moving to the back row, totally altered the set piece battle. The Chipstead eight began to go backwards where as previously they had more than held their own. The penalty county rose as the Met's presence at the breakdown became more effective. The Met pushed and probed for a breakthrough, falling short of the try line and conceding turnovers, while spurning kicks at goal. Eventually McRobbie took a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, and Druce elected to take the three points.
That was the only points the Met could accrue with a player advantage and, before the visitors' winger returned, Ciaran Poynter joined him in the sin bin. Chipstead were far less reticent and almost immediately added their third try, forcing their way over under the posts for Bush to have an easy kick for the extras. With Met still a man light, Chipstead sewed up the try bonus point, over-running the Met's increasingly stretched defence and right wing Tom Goater seeing his try again converted by Bush.
The Met did show great character. The game was lost but the contest was not over. For the remaining 25 minutes the Met pummelled the Chipstead defence. The Met scrum was walking the visitors backwards, earning penalties at a rate of knots at both the set piece and on the floor. But they simply could not get over the Chipstead line. Full credit to the defence for some remarkable saves although the Met will surely review a plethora of assaults and wonder how they didn't result in tries. With the clock approaching the red, Angus Munns got his reward for a an outstanding return to the Met XV, successfully grounding an impressive Police rumble. Druce converted to record yet another 100% kicking performance.
The result was far more emphatic than the difference between the protagonists. The Met have clearly suffered from a high turnover of players in the last three league fixtures. There has been no huge variation in overall quality but the team cohesion has definitely suffered. It might be that the Met is a better side than its own players believe. Without doubt the backs should have been running on to passes from much deeper in light of how dominant the pack was in the second half. It would not only half put much more pressure on the defenders but would also have averted so many passes going behind the receiver. Two weeks of hard work and consolidation before taking on Old Whitgiftians on 9th November.
Elsewhere, results went much as expected. Old Caterhamians recorded their second "away walkover" of the season and Old Wimbledonians sneaked home by a single point against Old Whitgiftians. Old Cranleighans were the surprise winners, 24-14 at Old Amplefordians, making the mid-table positions very tightly contested, with just seven points separating fifth from tenth.