Sutton suffered a disappointing end to 2014 with a rare home defeat as a below par performance by the home side allowed their fired up visitors Nuneaton to maintain their pursuit of league leaders South Leicester with a 35-10 win at the RSG, Walmley Road, after successive defeats in their two previous league games caused their campaign to falter, allowing Peterborough in third to close on them.

In the away fixture back in September Sutton were crushed in the scrums and suffered accordingly in a heavy defeat but the new look Sutton pack, strengthened by the return of Harry Pendleton, coped well and matched their powerful opponents in the scrums and rolling mauls...unfortunately however, in a difficult first half the Sutton lineout misfired at times and the back play lacked conviction allowing Nuneaton to race into a 20-0 lead after 30 minutes of play. The first score came on 6 minutes when fullback Joe Sagoe weaved his way to the line and fly half Joe Wilson converted for 7-0. Then on 15 minutes Joe Wilson stretched the lead to 10-0 when Sutton were caught offside in mid-field and another Wilson penalty on 23 minutes took Nuns to 13-0 before Joe Wilson scored and then converted his own try for a 20-0 lead after 30 minutes of play.

On the stroke of half time Sutton's efforts were rewarded with a consolation try when winger Nathan Burchell raced into the right corner for a good score set-up by outside centre Jonny Raistrick, giving Sutton a 5-20 deficit at the break.

Unfortunately, although Sutton lifted their game in the second half and in spite of promising runs by amongst others, skipper Fraser Tait, 2nd row Simon Millard and winger Ian Miller respectively, they were unable to make sufficient impact to turn the tide and 10 minutes into the second period Joe Wilson kicked a third penalty for 23-5 and then 5 minutes later centre Luke Wakefield found a gap in the Sutton centre to score under the posts and with Wilson's simple conversion Sutton trailed 30-5, with 25 minutes left.

Again, just 3 minutes later Nathan Burchell responded with a well taken try in the right corner following excellent play by fullback Ben Toft in the Nuneaton 22, to bring the score to 30-10 but Nuns closed out the game with a try by no8 Adie Hall mid-way through the final period following an attacking lineout and try as they might to salvage something in the way of a bonus point during the closing minutes of the contest, Sutton had to concede defeat and were left to reflect on a mixed season as they enter the festive break intent on recovering their special winning sparkle in 2015...

In the meantime the players under skipper Fraser Tait and head coach Matt Nevitt plus team manager Dave Daniels and all the support staff send Christmas Greetings and best wishes for a successful and prosperous New Year to all Sutton fans and loyal supporters.

Sutton other team results:

The Sutton Development side under coach Joe Gavin recorded an excellent 24-15 victory away to Nuneaton 2nd XV giving the Sutton club some Xmas Cheer but unfortunately the Sutton 3rd XV lost 39-9 to a strong Wolves 2nd XV.