The Met opened the new season with a disappointing result at Chipstead. It was a bright and breezy autumnal afternoon in the Surrey foothills and the Met entered the match with an approach that matched the weather. The casual observer might have felt that the Met was an invitational XV who had gathered in the bar beforehand. Chipstead were quick to take advantage of their guests' lack of cohesion and roared into a 12 point lead, finding gaps in a very flakey defence whose laying on of hands would have been acceptable in the Vatican, not so much on the playing fields of England.
Chipstead (and Surrey Police!) No10, Ed Bush played a masterful game, feeding his runners onto soft Police shoulders and kicking solidly in a tricky cross-wind, collecting 11 points of his own in the process. Forward attrition earned the opening try but Chipstead's second try was a microcosm of the Met's early travails. The Met seemingly did well to secure possession in a period of broken play but, as the Police were making some hard won yards, George Starkie kicked the ball upfield for Chipstead to run straight through the broken field en masse and backrow Boag scored under the posts.
To give the Met credit, they did regroup well. Co-captains Doswell and Stirrup were able to make good gains from the base, while prop Richards blasted holes in the direction of Chipstead's Bush, without ever quite managing to tie in the playmaker. On the half hour mark, the Met gave the first glimpse of what the season might hold in store. Debutant centre Sunni Jardine found himself with a sliver of space and turned on the afterburners to notch the first Police try of the nascent season. Sam Druce completed the minor and the Met were back in the game. Almost from the restart Kofi Butcher found himself with a clear channel down the left touchline and just managed to ride a corner flag tackle to level the scores at 12-12. The wind just pushed Druce's conversion outside the far post but Chipstead were clearly rattled. Healy managed to collect his own kick just short of the Chipstead 22 but was unable to direct his pass to either of his supporting runners. Stirrup and Lowe had a handful of sallies repulsed and Ed Jardinio was held up on the 5 metre line. A critical Met lineout was lost, enabling Bush to relieve the pressure. When the Met attacked from deeper, particularly when going from left to right, they continually missed out Jardine, isolating both the most potent attacker and with it, an overlap.
Chipstead weathered the storm, as much through the Met mis-steps as their own scramble defence, and worked their way back into the attacking half. The Met were fortunate to avoid a yellow card after a series of suspiciously high tackles but they were nevertheless a mess. The Chipstead pack drove towards the corner; the game was stopped while the owner of two black labs removed certain items from the field of play in a couple of small plastic bags ("Not Guilty" - ed) but Chipstead followed up with a clearout of their own, a couple of solid pushes and a try for Bush that he converted to give the hosts a 19-12 half-time advantage.
With a considerable slope in their favour, the Met started the second half on the front foot. However, the departure of Sam Druce, now taking up his coaching duties from the sideline, meant that the Met had lost some of the aerial menace he might have provided. A series of scrum infringements near their own line could have resulted in the Met conceding a penalty try but the referee's tolerance was rewarded with a Chipstead converted try, securing the first bonus point. The Met toiled away but never looked like breaching the Chipstead defence. Conversely, the Met always seemed to allow their opponents to slip at least one tackle and they paid the ultimate price when centre Chris Lypgzyski bounced through the Met's midfield and, with two men in support, handed the ball to Alfie Lamb who finished off any realistic bonus point aspirations of the Police.
Down 31-12, the Met called on a team spirit that should stand them in good stead for the challenges to come. Despite losing centre Conor Finch for the remaining nine minutes following a high tackle, the Met played with great purpose. The lineout became a horrible mess but with Stirrup and Lowe continuing to lead by example, the Met held a now rampant Chipstead at bay, and even began to look threatening themselves, for the first time in the second half. It was fitting that, with the clock well into the red, Sunny Jardine capped off his debut with a sparkling second try, leaving defenders in his wake as he accelerated right before scoring under the posts. Atherton's conversion was not enough to gain a bonus point for the Met but it would be fair to say that only 40% of the performance deserved one.
In effect, this opening game was the end of the Met's pre-season. The squad clearly grew into a unit during the 80 minutes and, although next week's hosts Old Whitgiftians ran in convincing victors at Old Cranleighans, there should be an intriguing encounter which just might shape the League.