Woking 24-34 Old Hamptonians

OHRFC made it two wins from two as they battled past a much-improved Woking to stay top of Surrey Counties 5.

Woking started very well, leading thanks to a beautiful chip, chase and score from 80m out by their fly-half, but the visitors hit back through Oli Taylor.

Matt Oxborrow scored a collector’s item of a try to nudge the Lions into the lead, which became more than two scores at the break when Jack Grady knocked over a penalty.

Rex Price’s try gave the OH their biggest lead in the match - fifteen points - before two Woking scores in quick succession brought the score back to 17-22.

But a Jacob Turley try, from Louis Goodwin’s charge down, and Fletcher Kipps’ second in two games secured the win, before Woking got a deserved fourth and resulting bonus point.

Woking come out flying but OH respond

With Woking having earned a bonus point in their first game against Mitcham & Carshalton, the league leaders knew this was going to be a tricky encounter, but when the opposition's fly half chipped and chase before regathering and running almost the length of the field, the visitors players and supporters alike were stunned.

It needed a big response, and though the OH managed to dominate the rest of the half, resilient Woking defence made it hard to find a breakthrough.

Eventually it came, as Oli Taylor finished well in the corner after some good phase play, the conversion was adrift but with the wind on their backs, the Lions came roaring straight back up the field.

Matt Oxborrow - who scrummaged like a machine and was fantastic in the loose all day - eventually provided the score, as he powered over on a nice hard line close to the ruck to double the try tally and give the visitors the lead for the first time in the day.

Jack Grady knocked over a penalty on the stroke of half-time which gave the OH a crucial two-score buffer heading into the second half, but playing into the wind in the second period was likely to be a tough challenge.

Early second half scores make sure of victory despite Woking fightback

The early minutes of the second half were going to be crucial, and the visitors started the half at break-neck speed as Rex Price powered through to earn a deserved score of his own after more composed and clinical phase play.

Woking hit back, as ill-discipline crept in, and several solid phases from their forwards put the OH defence on the back foot before Jacob Woods crashed over from a couple of metres out.

Woking continued to take the game to the visitors and just a couple of minutes later some quick thinking from KJ Nissen at a quick-tap penalty saw him get over to cut the gap to 22-17.

Discipline and attempting to play the game in the right end of the field would be key, and that paid dividends as Goodwin brilliantly charged down after charging from the back of the scrum before Turley provided a finish which bagged us the bonus point.

There was still work to be done though, and Fletcher Kipps doubled his tally for the season as he burst through a few tackles to get the visitors to 34 points, double that of their opposition.

Woking dominated the latter stages, and eventually got their own four-try bonus point try as Worrell-Thompson grabbed a score at the death, but the job was done and the OH secured the win to stay top with 10 out of 10 league points so far.

Team
1. Charlie Talbutt
2. Tom Taylor
3. Matt Oxborrow (1 try)
4. Tom Tosetti
5. Fletcher Kipps (1 try)
6. Rex Price (1 try)
7. Ben Chapman
8. Jamie Lashley
9. Nicky Bird
10. Louis Goodwin
11. Nussar Farr
12. Jacob Turley (1 try)
13. Oli Taylor (1 try)
14. Olly Stoddart
15. Jack Grady (3 cons, 1 pen)

Subs:
George Whitman

Man of the Match: Matt Oxborrow

Coach and injured skipper Nick Powell’s comments:

“We knew this would be tough. Woking is a big town with a great club and I always felt that last year was an aberration.

“I’m mostly pleased with the resilience the lads showed when it got difficult, to in at the break with a two-score buffer was huge for us, and then to come out of that tricky period with the charge down try was massively important - and a little fortunate.

“From there I thought we managed the game really well and it’s great to have come out on the winning side from a tough test.”