Ultimately the result belied the fact that Alton Silverbacks came mightily close to beating one of the title contenders in London 3 South West as they visited Weybridge Vandals perched on the banks of the Thames
With Alton forced to make several forward changes, and just looking at the squads before kick-off, it was clear that the bulkier Weybridge Vandals physical presence was likely to cause Alton issues in the scrum and so it eventually panned out that way, but really that was the only difference between the teams.
One welcome return was that of Mayowa Olonilua, and he started brightly with a couple of breaks that challenged the Vandals defensive line and then a counter ruck to steal the possession. However, his cameo performance was short-lived as he sustained an early injury, but still it was Alton that were the side that looked most likely to score in these early exchanges. Joe Gwyther and Cameron Hamer link up play, created an opening for Matt Pengelly and George Lucas on the left wing but the chance was spurned. The Vandals were on the back foot as Alton forced the home side to concede a couple of kickable penalties; one of which was converted to give Alton the lead.
Karter Whittock replaced Olonilua and in open play, the lighter busier pack of Alton constantly forced the Vandals into errors and penalties and consequently they struggled to mount any serious attacks or create any sustained pressure. But the set piece was a different matter as Alton were unable to obtain any clean ball from neither scrum nor line out.
Eventually though Vandals powerful running game started to create openings and they created an overload on the blindside to score the opening try.
Shortly thereafter a speculative kick through that Alton failed to clear resulted in a 5-metre scrum to the Vandals and after a couple of resets, they used their weight to push Alton over and extend the lead at half time. 12-3 was harsh on Alton
Alton started the second half on the front foot. Hamer and Lucas ran from deep within their own territory, but the final pass was adjudged to have been forward with the Vandals defence in some disarray. A Gwyther kick into the corner, was followed by a couple of penalties for not releasing which resulted in numerous phases of play in the red zone. Tom Smethurst, Luke Bottomley and Oli Fielder all were stopped just short of the line. As Pengilley was tackled, Aidan Trethewey, who moments before had groggily returned to his feet after an injury, collected from the base of the ruck and there was no stopping him as he scored his first deserved try for the Red Bellies.
Hooker Harry Thomas had to leave the pitch for a blood injury and the Vandals felt slightly aggrieved as this resulted in non-contested scrums for a while. Several Alton kicks followed by good chases, forced the Vandals to retreat and Alton were subsequently awarded another penalty that Gwyther kicked from long range to take the lead with 18 minutes remaining.
The Vandals regrouped under the posts and reverted to a less expansive tactic using the power in the front five for the remainder of the match. The scrums were contested again now as Thomas was fit to continue and the Vandals took full advantage and bombarded the Alton line with wave after wave of attacks in the final 10 minutes.
Eventually Alton just ran out of steam as the Vandals physical presence proved too much and they scored 3 tries (one of which was a penalty try) from short range. Every decision seemed to go against Alton in that final period and this was compounded by a yellow card for Jeremy Powell in the final minute.
The final score and particularly the winning margin of 33-13 probably flattered the Vandals but Alton went home with their heads held high to have run them so close.
Next week, it does not get any easier for the Alton as they travel to local rivals Petersfield who currently sit top of the table.