Our only previous encounter with Chipstead was in a plate final at the Mitcham Mudfest when we were u9s!. That game ended 1-1 and we ended up sharing the award, not much of a form guide but in the absence of anything else, it indicated a close match up. This was Chipstead's first league match, whereas the Vandals were looking to build on their opening round success at Haslemere. The game got off to a great start for the home team with Oscar breaking through to score and adding the extras. However Chipstead slowly found their feet and hit back with a converted try of their own. Chipstead started to dominate territory and possession and grabbed a try on the stroke of half time to snatch a 7-12 lead.

The second half saw a few changes and despite some fresh legs, Chipstead extended their lead with a couple more tries after being gifted possession. At 7-26, the Vandals were staring down the barrel of their first defeat of the season, and a heavy one at that. Stirred on by pride and strength of character, the Vandals team embarked on a ten minute passage of play that stirred the home crowd. Twice Oscar went over after good approach work by George and Henry in particular. Oscar added the extras on both occasions and the game was again there for the taking. The Vandals team were on the ascendancy, and a break down the left flank by Joe gave the crowd hope, as the try line approached, Joe went for the posts and just managed to evade the covering defence. The extra 2 points were added to give the Vandals a slender 28-26 lead with a couple of minutes to go.

Chipstead did not know what had hit them, but to their credit managed to stir themselves for one final attack, and with the last play managed to score the winning try and deny the Vandals a famous smash and grab win. The game finished 28-31, which meant that at least the Vandals secured bonus points for scoring four tries and for the narrow loss.

There were a number of lessons to be learnt from today's match - the ball must be looked after in possession; knowing when not to throw speculative offloads. The ten minute spell that yielded 21 points showed what the team could do, but that level of play and intensity has to be sustained for longer periods. This will be the focus over the next couple of weeks.

PS Thanks to Murph for the great action shots.