O'Walcountians 30, Kingston 26

by Sam Johnson, 12 October 2024

Kingston made the trip over to Carshalton to face Old Walcountians - a familiar foe over the past few seasons. The Clockhouse is a difficult place for teams to go, and Kingston have been on the wrong end of the scoreline when visiting Old Walcountians in recent history. But following two heavy losses, Kingston were determined to put in a performance and get their season back on track.

The match kicked off in torrential rain, and whilst this cleared up fairly quickly, the conditions remained greasy, making handling a real challenge for both sides.

Old Walcountians struck first, slotting a penalty after 10 minutes. Notwithstanding this early setback, the Kingston defence was aggressive and physical, holding off the waves of Walcountians attacks. Unfortunately Walcountians managed to find the edge on two occasions with some great passes and went over for two quick fire tries to make the score 13-0.

Kingston were not deterred and flanker Hugo Eyre was leading from the front with some trademark strong carries. Kingston were playing some good rugby but the last pass just was not sticking. Following a turnover at a midfield ruck, Walcountians showed some deft hands and went over again to make the score 18-0 at the half.

Half Time - Old Walcountians 18-0 Kingston

Kingston came out of the traps flying in the second half, with the team only being denied their first try after the referee deemed Hugo Eyre to have knocked on over the line. Hugo swears he got it down, but he would say that…

Kingston continued to apply the pressure, but were denied by another knock on over the try line. Walcountians defence was strong, but potentially pushing the limits of the law. Kingston finally got over the try line after some good forward efforts.

Walcountians went over in the corner following some forward pressure, and then again following a rolling maul. The score was now 30-5 and Kingston were in danger of capitulating.

However, unlike against the Police, Kingston rose to the challenge of coming away from the fixture with something. Hugo Eyre strolled through the middle off a lovely pass from debutant Rhys Luke who had now moved to 10. Hugo Eyre then went over again following a lovely no look pass from Chris Ward who had moved to 9.

In the final few minutes the Kingston pack (who had been excellent all day) won a scrum penalty against the head, and the Kingston back row were the quickest to react, showing a good turn of speed to go in under the sticks. Rhys Luke slotting the conversion to make the score 30-26. Whilst the sidelines thought there might be some time left, potentially allowing Kingston to steal a miraculous comeback win, the referee decided otherwise and blew his whistle for full time.

This was a much better performance from Kingston and the boys will be pleased to come away from The Clockhouse with two bonus points. That said, Kingston will need to fix their slow starts, and periods of lapses in concentration if they are going to start converting these plucky losses into wins. Big congratulations to debutant Rhys Luke, who looked assured at 15 and 10 - hopefully the start of a big future at the club. Kingston return to Hook Road next Saturday when they host Old Blues in what is sure to be another cracking game.