1st XV Match report - 12th Nov 2022

David Daniels 1st XV Manager

Match report - 12th Nov 2022

Silhillians RFC 34pts v Sutton Coldfield 35pts

Regional 2 North Midlands

Seeking to put right the wrongs of a below par performance the previous week, when Sutton 1st XV lost 27-22 away to Newark, last weekend Sutton started strongly against bottom of the table Silhillians but having applied all the early pressure in the Silhillian's half without reward, on 5 minutes the home side turned the tables and stunned the visitors by scoring 4 tries in rapid succession to lead 26-0 after 26 minutes of play, begging the question how is this team bottom of the table. Obviously inspired by their first win of the season the previous weekend and determined to show they were no pushover, Silhillians produced an impressive first half performance.

Thankfully, led by skipper George Ord at 2nd row Sutton lifted their game to stop the slide and before the break they scored 2 quick tries themselves closing to 26-14 at halftime with the second half seeing a much-improved performance by the Sutton side as they found their rhythm and cohesion but the game still went down to the wire with Sutton securing a narrow 35-34 victory with the last kick of a compelling contest; once again emphasizing the strength of the teams and the competition for places in this league, which explains why a strong team like Silhillians are still bottom of the league table after 10 games, as the hard fought victory takes Sutton back to 2nd in the table, 1 point behind new league leaders Leek and 2 points ahead of Melbourne and Long Eaton in 3rd & 4th place respectively.

Sutton kicked off in bright sunshine on a perfect pitch with the Sutton support mingling with a large supportive home crowd for the rugby at the excellent well serviced, multi-sport centre.

As noted earlier, Sutton made all the early running but on 5 minutes Silhillians broke out of their own half and took play at pace up their left wing then fed the ball towards the right wing before cutting back in field for no8 Stephen Hall to cross for the opening try by the posts. Centre Ben Freeman added the conversion to give the home side a 7-0 lead 6 minutes into the game.

There then followed a trio of tries for Silhillians as they dominated the scoreboard for the next 20 minutes; as first right wing Oscar Blundell crossed for a try in the right corner extending the score to 12-0 on 12 minutes with the difficult conversion missed, then on 21 minutes left wing Will Sands scored in the left corner and Ben Freeman landed the touchline conversion to extend the score to 19-0 before the Sils left wing Will Sands picked out an interception from a miss placed Sutton pass to race 60 metres up his left wing from the Sils 10 metre line to score to the left of the posts. Again, Ben Freeman landed the conversion to give the home side a daunting 26-0 lead after 26 minutes of play.

Thankfully, with 14 minutes left to play to the break and faced with the growing deficit Sutton gathered themselves, then showing great resilience and strength of character from the restart they put together a positive phase of play as they drove the ball up to the Sil's try line and Sutton skipper George Ord detached himself from the driving pack to score to left of the posts. Fullback Matt Smith calmly added the conversion and Sutton were on their way to reducing the deficit at 26-7, 10 minutes before the break, then on the stroke of halftime Sutton set up an attack in mid-field with a chip and chase. Sutton were first to the ball on the 22 and another astute kick steered it over the try line by the posts, then timing his run perfectly as the Sils defender failed to ground the ball cleanly, Sutton centre Will Mitchell was on hand to claim the try and with Matt Smith adding the conversion points Sutton were back in contention at 26-14 but still with work to do and within 5 minutes of the start of the second half George Ord played the captains role again by claiming his second try of the day as the Sutton pack took play into the right corner and George powered over from close range.

Fullback Matt Smith landed an inch perfect touchline conversion to close the score to 26-21 putting Sutton in the ascendancy... but a Sutton miss-field of a kick ahead gave Sils a scrum on their left deep in the Sutton 22 and although the Sutton pack held the drive short of the try line blindside flanker Fred Howard detached himself to claim a try to the left of the posts. Fortunately for Sutton, the attempted conversion hit the upright and bounced clear reducing the damage to 5 points and a score line of 31-21 with 30 minutes left to play.

Shrugging off the set back Sutton continued with a positive approach and midway through the second half their efforts were rewarded when after repeated incursions into the Sils 22 outside centre Will Mitchell playing off inside centre Josh Groom, broke through the Sils defence to score an excellent try to the right of the posts securing the try scoring bonus point and with Matt Smith adding the conversion Sutton moved back to within 3 points at 31-28 with 19 minutes left to play, setting up a tense final period of play.

With the result on a knife edge Sutton suffered a further setback when they conceded a penalty in front of their posts, kicked by Ben Freeman for a 34-28 score line going into the last 15 minutes of the game, meaning Sutton now needed a try and conversion for victory... and from the restart Sutton stepped up the pressure in search of the match winning try and conversion and with time running out Sutton were camped on the Sil's try line with successive drives for the line being thwarted by illegal play and time after time the home side were penalised and Sutton had to reset and drive again until finally the yellow cards game out but still the penalty count against Silhillians was building but no penalty try. With Sils down to 13 players and the game reduced to uncontested scrums due to Silhillians having no more front row players taking away the scrum as an attacking platform Sutton had managed to manoeuvre play to a position under the posts and it was from this position that the ball was picked up from a passive scrum and fed to Sutton's powerful winger Tom McNamee to take the ball on the burst and crash through the desperate defenders to score the decisive try under the posts setting up fullback Matt Smith to land the final conversion in the face of the charging defenders.

The teenager was up to the job and calmly stroked the ball between the posts to secure a superb 35-34 victory out of the jaws of defeat but a victory that was rightly deserving of a team who held their game together in a solid second half after a torrid first half.

The game saw a 1st XV debut for flanker Dan Jones, who played 2nd XV rugby at Sutton last season and was voted team player of the year and then Dan signed registration forms for the 1st XV in the summer but due to circumstances he was able to make his start for the 1st XV until last weekend and having experienced the first half he must have wondered what he had signed up to but he saw what this talented Sutton side is capable of in a much improved second half performance and with Luke Hennessy making his debut for this season off the bench to add depth to the much needed front row cover things look brighter for the pack, which added to the 5 tries scored and the 5 out of 5 conversions kicked by fullback Matt Smith plus the reappearance of influential centre Josh Groom, it all bodes well for the teams future.

Sutton 1st XV now take a scheduled break from league rugby this weekend returning to face third place Melbourne RFC at the RSG, Walmley Road on Saturday 26th Nov 2022. With just 2 points separating 2nd place Sutton from 3rd place Melbourne the game is definitely a not to be missed top of the table clash. All support welcome. KO 2.15 pm.

Other match result:

Sunday - 13th Nov 2022

Sutton Ladies 20pts v Lichfield Ladies 36pts

National League - Womens Championship 2 Midlands

On Sunday 13th Nov 2022 the Sutton Ladies suffered a rare defeat when they welcomed a strong Lichfield Ladies outfit to the RSG, Walmley Road but in spite of a good effort by the Sutton girls, Lichfield had the edge in a 36-20 victory for the visitors, after an entertaining contest.