Match report - 11th Oct 2014

On a day of mixed weather, which included bright sunshine, light drizzle, thunder and lightning followed by a heavy hailstorm, the weather pattern reflected Sutton's mixed play as they slipped to their third disappointing away defeat of the season going down 28-19 to an ambitious multinational Peterborough side.

The Sutton team travelled the 80 miles to newcomers Peterborough Lions confident that they could return with a victory but following a frenetic start by their high spending opponents Sutton were caught cold and found themselves 5-0 down after just 2 minutes when the ball was swung from left to right across the Sutton 22, after a forward drive by the Lions broke down on their left wing and outside centre Geddis raced through a gap in the Sutton midfield defence to score to the right of the posts.

Fortunately for Sutton the conversion drifted wide and following the restart Sutton recovered well from the shock of the instant score to produce their best play of the day to level the scores at 5-5, when they regained possession following the restart kick to the left wing and the Sutton pack drove play towards the Peterborough 22 before releasing the ball to the backs, who ran classic lines to create an overlap for fullback Ben Toft. The gifted fullback, who proved to be Sutton's most potent threat during a disrupted game, raced into the right corner 5 minutes into the game but Sutton's threatened recovery was short lived and inside centre Will Carrington crossed for Peterborough's second unconverted try to snatch the lead back, giving the home side a 10-5 advantage 10 minutes into the game.

At this point, in spite of persistent light drizzle, the game was a fast flowing evenly matched end to end entertaining contest between two strong packs supported by free running backs on both sides... but the 10-5 score line remained in tact until 6 minutes into the second half, when a pushover try was claimed by no8 Darren Fox extending the Peterborough lead to 15-5 and then midway through the second period Fox charged over to claim a second try, which was converted by centre Will Carrington for a 22-5 lead, with 20 minutes to play.

Again Sutton responded well to the increased deficit sending fly half Josh Rolls in for a try close to the posts, which was converted by centre Alex White to close to 22-12 with 17 minutes to play but then the thunder and lighting came followed by a heavy hailstorm, which disrupted play but the abrasive home side effectively shut Sutton out again with successive penalties by Will Carrington to re-establish their lead at 28-12 with 8 minutes to play. In the closing period increased pressure from Sutton led to a sharply taken try for Sutton skipper Fraser Tait, which was converted by Alex White to close to within two scores at 28-19. In a final do or die effort Sutton were harshly denied a try under the posts in the closing seconds, which would have brought them to within 2 points for a losing bonus point and a try scoring bonus point to salvage 2 league points from a frustrating game but it was not to be and Sutton have now exchanged positions with Peterborough at 8th and 7th respectively, in the league table, with both teams having won 3 and lost 3 of their first 6 games.

One highlight of the Peterborough game was seeing club chairman Jim Haywood running touch, in place of daughter Hannah, complete with shorts and green flag. The chairman did a great job, just edging Ben Toft into second place in the man of the match contest.

This weekend Sutton continue their challenging league campaign, when they welcome old rivals Dudley Kingswinsford back to the RSG, Walmley Road after many years, with the visitors having played in National League 2 over recent seasons but the two clubs, who share a mutual respect, now resume their rivalry with both teams competing in National League 2 Midlands. KO 3pm