The Met came off second best in a high-scoring encounter with Middlesex neighbours Old Hamptonians but were relatively satisfied with two bonus points. Old Hamptonians are a young and upwardly mobile side, who have enjoyed three back-to-back promotions since the covid pandemic. The clash at Imber Court seemed evenly matched for the first 20 minutes. The strong wind was in Met faces and the referee was quick to blow for any offences at the breakdown. Both teams suffered from the whistle and with some errant handling. After a bit of back-and-forth, hooker William Allen was first to cross the line, opening the scoring for the Met with a try converted by the usually reliable Sam Druce. It was to be the start of an unusual return for Druce, who added two tries but only two of his goalkicks to finish with 14 points. Before he crossed for the first time, Druce's opposite number, Oliver Taylor, landed a simple penalty for Hamptonians when the Met offended on their own 22. Druce failed to convert his own try but it extended the Met's lead and, although Thomas Braund crossed for the visitors as half-time approached, taking advantage of a crafty hand in the ruck, Taylor's conversion was not enough to prevent the Met taking a 12-10 lead into the break.
A number of injuries, mostly to Hamptonian old boys, meant that the first half actually lasted 61 minutes. Despite the disruption, including losing scrum-half Goodwin with a nasty ankle injury, the visitors weathered it well. In fact, an abridged half-time, seemed to affect the Met badly and, having conceded 7 points before the break, centre Nicholas Bird surged through flimsy Met defenders to give Hamptonians the lead for the first time with barely a minute of the new half on the clock.
The Met were still struggling to come to terms with the officiating at the ruck, causing good attacking position to be lost as Taylor relieved the pressure with a plethora of penalties. Debutant Kallum Rees was replaced by Fred Dalley but it was Hamptonian replacement Jacob Turley who extended the Old Boys' lead with Taylor using the upright to add the conversion. Druce reduced the arrears with his second try and the Met had temporarily stemmed the flow of the visitors' points. The game ebbed and flowed between the 22 metre lines. Butcher and Stirrup made clear breaks but were unable to finish promising attacks. The Old Boys' back three returned Met punts powerfully and often with interest and eventually wing Jamie Lashley broke the thin blue line to secure the visitors' try bonus point. Taylor added the conversion into the face of the wind and almost immediately Hamptonians drove back the Met re-start, the pack claiming the fifth try and Taylor slotting his fourth conversion.
The Met were now 19 points adrift with over 10 minutes remaining and damage limitation appeared to be the order of the day. But yet again the Met showed what might be possible. The "never say die" attitude worked space on the left for Met wingman Matthew Atherton to score in the corner and gain a vital bonus point. With the ref's watch presumably ticking inexorably (slowly) towards full-time, albeit 107 minutes after kick-off, Sam Bailey, enjoying an afternoon propping, bulldozed over for a try and with Druce adding the two points, the Met secure an unlikely losing bonus point.
In hindsight, the porous spell either side of half-time was the Met's undoing. With a XV that had a number of changes from both previous League matches, the Met can again take satisfaction that the squad shows great promise. It now needs to add cohesion and resilience to create a heady cocktail and live up to top of the table aspirations