A sensational twenty-one minutes saw the Met Police secure top spot in Surrey 3 after Effingham & Leatherhead came very close to disrupting the party. Having clawed their way back to parity just after half-time, first time visitors to Imber Court Effingham & Leatherhead were torn apart by a spectacular Chris Holloway hat-trick of tries.

On yet another Indian Summer afternoon, the Met opened proceedings with their now accustomed forward dominance. Keeping the play very much in the left attacking quarter, the Police quickly established control of the lineout and it wasn't long before the scrum was also being driven back by the home pack. Although the visitors' scramble defence was working hard, a steady drive into the defenders' 22 saw debutant Fred Dailley burst between two tacklers to score under the posts.

Effingham & Leatherhead looked unlikely to score at the other end in spite of several strong drives through the middle, particularly by rangy second row, Henry Howarth. The visitors generally lacked the bulk to trouble the Police defence; the speed and youthful enthusiasm was also falling foul of the referee far too regularly. On half an hour, the Met extended the lead with a counter-attack down the right touch, the strong-running Holloway putting in Will Jay, a welcome return at full-back. Druce missed the conversion but the Met were seemingly on their way to securing a win. Two minutes later, the Met decided they wanted to make a game of it.

As Effingham & Leatherhead enjoyed a concerted period of success around the Met 22, the Police began to lose their disciplne. With the referee blowing his whistle more and more at the breakdown, prop Liam Maher found himself sent to the sin bin. Three minutes later Will Ferguson, consumed by a red mist and needlessly involved in an off-the-ball fracas, followed him. Incredibly, the Met rallied with two men down and succeeded in driving the play back up the other end. Another penalty, this time against the visitors, enabled Sam Druce to claim the points and send the Met into half-time with a 15 point advantage.

The second half started with an early penalty for Effingham & Leatherhead to lessen the deficit. As the Met struggled to get their 13-man defence in order, the pressure on their try line continued and the Leatherhead number 12 crossed for his side's first try. From the restart the Met managed to regain some territory, and with Maher ready to rejoin the fray, Holloway threw an aimless pass that was gleefully intercepted on the visitors own 22 who galloped home a converted try at the other end to level the scores.

With Holloway embarrassed and parity restored in terms of numbers, Police skipper Cormac Healy gathered the troops and demanded a re-focus. Although Effingham & Leatherhead had their spirits raised, they had no answer when a revitalised Chris Holloway powered his ways through four tacklers to restore the Met's lead. Druce hit the post with his conversion attempt but that also seemed to reset his kicking geometry. Several devastating kicks from hand pinned Effingham & Leatherhead in their own 22 and Cormac Healy applied the finish to secure a try bonus point.

Three minutes later, Holloway again found himself with space on the right and a spectacular leap over two defenders gave him his second try. Not to be outdone, the Met forwards reasserted themselves in the close exchanges and a drive over the line saw hooker Sam Bailey awarded a well-deserved try. Whilst they never gave up, the heart had definitely gone out of the Effingham & Leatherhead fight, and wingers George Starkie and Holloway, completing a man of the match winning hat-trick, added further tries to take the Met over the half century mark. In the course of the afternoon, fly half Sam Druce added a further 13 points to his season's tally.

Speaking after the game, coach Graham Shaw said "I was really pleased with the final 30 minutes...we played good rugby into space with great support...let's keep building". The Met assumed top spot in the League following Old Georgians' unexpected victory over hitherto leaders and undefeated Old Becs. Georgians have a game in hand and themselves remain undefeated but they have struggled to pick up bonus points thus far. The free-scoring Met are showing the way in that regard. Long may it continue!