Out of sorts Sutton

An out of sorts Sutton failed to take their chances and suffered a disappointing away day defeat against a resurgent Scunthorpe side, who sat in 9th place just 7 points above the relegation zone in a tight low to middle of the table battle at the start of the game, which was important to both clubs for different reasons. However it was the North Lincolnshire side, who raised their game to avenge their 29-5 defeat at Sutton last November, recording a 19-12 win against 3rd place Sutton as they fought fiercely to distance themselves from the relegation zone. For Sutton although losing a place after a disappointing performance, all is not lost as they can recover their promotion prospects by winning their game in hand this weekend away to Old Haleonians KO 3 pm, which will lift them above Nuneaton and Old Hales into second place to face the dreaded play off's, with just 4 games remaining of which 3 will be at home.

After the long journey Sutton, kicked off against a strong cross wind but the ball was blown back failing to travel the required 10 metres, so ominously the game started with a scrum to Scunthorpe and from that point on the first half belonged to the battling home side, who kept themselves on the front foot with powerful play by their forwards and solid running through their backs. As Sutton took time to settle into the game, Scunthorpe took full advantage to open the scoring after 15 minutes through their powerful Kiwi left wing Rewiti Vaimoso, who raced in on an overlap and then on 20 minutes 2nd row Nick Dyson forced a scrambled try from close range and with fullback Steve Johnson confidently adding both conversions the home side led 14-0.

Sutton rallied and produced some good runs but their normally potent finishing let them down and typically on 25 minutes, what should have been a scoring pass on the Scunthorpe try line was intercepted and Sutton had to race back 80 metres to prevent another score against them.

The visitors made a better start to the second half matching up to the power of their opponents pack and scoring an excellent try by prop Brook Davies following a charging run to the line 10 minutes after the restart. The try was converted by Alex White to close to 14-7 but in spite of creating promising opportunities Sutton continued to miss key overlaps and simple errors leading to turnovers continued to count against them. However, on 65 minutes a stunning 50 m break in midfield by scrumhalf Mark Rayner led to a try for centre Jon Raistrick to close to 14-12 but the hopes of a late Sutton recovery were dashed when Scunnies scrum half Will Harrison stole the ball at the base of a Sutton defensive scrum on the try line and he raced over from close range to seal the game eight minutes from time. Fortunately the conversion was missed and Sutton gained a losing bonus point as consolation for being within 7 points!

In summary, Scunthorpe won an entertaining contest by taking their chances and playing with commitment throughout a hard fought survival v promotion game, whilst Sutton lacked their recent sparkle and failed to make the most of the chances they created but all is not lost for the talented Sutton side and they can put things right with a win this weekend.