Wimbledon 51–14 Chobham
Wimbledon head coach Nick Easter praised his side as they ran in seven tries against Chobham on Saturday.
Skipper Neil Hallett kicked 16 points and bagged a last-minute try, with Steve May, Max Adkins, Bryan Croke, Pete Wallace, Charlie Morgan and substitute James McCann also touching down.
The bonus-point win keeps Wimbledon in second place in London One South, three points behind Sidcup.
Easter, the Harlequins and ex-England flanker, joined the club in the summer and has been delighted with the progress they have already made.
He said: “I came in and they were sort of fifth or sixth the last few years and I said, ‘Look, you’ve got a vision of where you want to take the club and I’ve got a vision of how I want the players to play’ and at the moment they’re coming on nicely in that area.
“To a man they worked their socks off, in both attack and defence.”
Wimbledon went behind to a 14th minute fleet-footed Joshua Devitt try, which was a fitting reward for the visitors’ bright opening.
Wimbledon’s obdurate tackling kept the score at 7-0 before Hallett kicked their first points.
A deluge of tries then swamped Chobham with Chris Lewis feeding back-row partner May to score in the corner.
Adkins then collected Croke’s clever kick to grab Dons’ second try and make the score 13-7.
Gary Crowe’s mighty line-out catch provided the platform for Ti Pairama-Lewington to angle a pass to Croke for the third.
And on the stroke of half-time Wallace’s try put Wimbledon out of sight.
“It’s the first time we’ve actually been able to put a performance together for the whole 80 minutes.”
McCann heaped salt in Chobham’s wounds after the break, burrowing through before Hallett’s conversion made it 35-7.
With Lewis and Jamie Evans yellow-carded following an altercation, Chobham scored with a Harry Guy try.
But Morgan sneaked over the line before Hallett sealed a fine performance, feinting inside for a try then converting with the game’s last kick.
“That’s certainly the best we’ve played all season,” said the Wimbledon captain.
“It’s the first time we’ve actually been able to put a performance together for the whole 80 minutes.”
