Mitcham & Carshalton began their Surrey 4 - Chairman’s Shield with a great win against Woking 1XV, our first win against a Surrey 4 side in some years, so a great way to set out our stall for the 2020/2021 season!
Despite the awful conditions and a small part of the pitch ankle-deep under water, Mitcham exploded out of the blocks, with Fly Half Williams wriggling through a gap to put Mitcham 5 nil up. After the initial shock from Mitcham, Woking recovered well, stunning Mitcham with three quick tries. One try, a quick move from the backs, the second, a lucky deflection from a try line clearance saw the Woking player catch a loose ball and placing it down, and the third, a very poor defensive effort, seeing a Woking forward crash through a double tackle to run under the posts. 17-5 to Woking.
This seemed to be the wake up that Mitcham needed and sent a clear message that the sides complacency was unacceptable. Starting from the basics, Mitcham began regaining simple possession with lots of forward movement. This possession was eventually rewarded with Woking conceding a penalty, allowing Williams to slot over and bring the scoreline to within nine points. Mitcham almost scored their second try of the game on the stroke of half time, however a stray line-out on the Woking 5’ prevented this, leaving the half time score 17-8.
Mitcham however continued this pressure into the second half, with Fullback Paul Jones somehow darting through half the Woking side from the halfway and securing Mitcham’s second try, which was converted. Momentum continued and following an excellent forwards movement, Second Row Michael ‘Chef’ Kestell was able to crash over the line with a powerful drive. Mitcham’s lead was soon cancelled out with Woking once again putting pressure on the Mitcham defence and were able to secure their fourth try and leaving the game 22 all.
With only five minutes to go, Jones was once again Mitcham’s saviour, with another unbelievable individual try, putting us again back in the lead.
Whilst Woking began to counter, the arrival of substitutes Manuel ‘Nacho’ Orellana and Nathan Brown added additional power into the scrum. A combination of the substitutions and fatigue seemed to get to Woking, and the scrums, which had been fairly even all day started going backwards, very quickly. The penalties began being awarded at the scrum, giving Mitcham some much needed breathing space and allowed the backs to clear their lines, winning the game and putting Mitcham one win away from reach the final!
Tries: J. Williams, M. Kestell, P. Jones x 2
Penalties: J. Williams
Conversions: J. Williams x 2
Princess Prosecco MOTM: Keir Waller
