The Met recorded a stunning victory in the foothills of the Surrey Downs with a nine try blitz that will put trepidation into the hearts of any Surrey club that entertains them. Old Walcountians, who boasted a record equal to the Mets' coming into the game, managed to open the scoring, collect a try bonus point for their four tries, and were within a missed conversion of being level as the match entered the final quarter. The hosts will look back on a game where they dominated the lineout, probably held the upper hand at the scrum in the first half but managed to concede a try while the Met were down to 14 men. Poor handling in the back line throughout, plus a multitude of scrum offences in the last 20 minutes or so, certainly contributed to Counts' own downfall but the defence and running power of the Met cannot be understated. That, and 18 points from the boot of Sam Druce who registered a 100% return were the constituents of a huge victory that puts the Met well into the mix in the top spots of League Two.
The opening encounters were dominated by the home side but they continually fumbled the ball as they looked to build territorial dominance, enabling the Met to slow them down and keep the game on an even keel. Nevertheless, it was no surprise when Counts did manage to string together a full set of passes that winger Anthony French strolled over in the corner.
Counts piled on the pressure and looked to have made a major gain when Met lock Steve Routledge was sent to the bin for collapsing a maul just short of the Met's line. But still the Counts' handling proved their weakness and it was the Met who scored. The powerful Sunni Jardine was too much for the opposition to handle and he ran in a hat-trick of tries in the first half. His opposite number Andrew Togbolah pulled one back for Counts, converted by Appleyard, but the Met reached the half-time break with a comfortable-looking 21-12 lead.
The second half was barely 5 minutes old when a counter-attack saw George Starkie add his name to the scoresheet and claim the Met's bonus point but Counts rallied. For the next 10 minutes, the home side threw everything at the Thin Blue Line, and suddenly the Met began to fall off tackles and look somewhat shaky in all facets of play. Two quick-fire converted tries brought Counts back to within two points of the Met and, as the clock approached the hour mark, it seemed that the game had shifted against the Police.
In fact, the exact opposite was the case. From the re-start the Met were galvanised. Keeping the ball away from the touchlines the Met unleashed their running skills, giving the defenders no respite. Hooker Sam Bailey galloped in from some distance, a wonderful try that may bring his front row union membership in to question. Kofi Butcher finished off a lovely handling move emanating from a poor Counts kick-off and then Jardine added his fourth try to the tally, skimming through tacklers like a yellow Ferrari through amber traffic lights. Matthew Atherton came off the bench to claim an excellent try on the left and finally, Will Ferguson, who had worked tirelessly all afternoon, popped up on Jardine's shoulder to receive a simple pass and probably the easiest try of his career to date. As Ferguson touched down, there were exhausted Walcountians collapsing all over the pitch. The home team had worked so hard but ultimately they were outclassed.
The Met showed great intelligence in managing the game, eventually getting to grips with the scrummage and forcing their opponents to concede penalty after penalty in the final quarter. Keeping the lineouts to a minimum, given that their own were misfiring, also helped to contain the Counts' resurgence.
The Met can look forward to entertaining Old Blues on Saturday, who themselves racked up a landslide victory over Chipstead, knowing that the Police attack is fast becoming the most potent around.