Sutton Storm Salts. Citadel!

Sutton 3s made the short trip to longstanding local rivals Old Salts, looking for a morale boosting win of any kind but especially in a West Midlands league game, which would mean a step or two up the table, away from the bottom reaches! With a much changed team it’s looking like the changing of the guard is taking place in the third team.
On a sunny but cold afternoon and a boggy and sticky pitch flowing rugby was unlikely and in the true tradition of the fixture that’s how it turned out, to no great surprise! Sutton kicked off lost the ball but turned it over through great work by the forwards and proceeded to run hard at the Salts line through powerful charges led by Dean Harper, who the opposition were most reluctant to tackle and Dom Morphett. Indeed this pair of returning players was instrumental in gaining ground in the home team’s 22 with drive after drive and phase after phase backed up by the sterling efforts of Rab Cooper, Armand Ro, Tom Foulsham and Quentin Doireau. Something had to give and it was the Salts defence that blinked first as Harper then Ro battered at the line before Morphett sensing that it was his time to make his mark picked an opponent and thundered over the line for the first try of the afternoon, converted by standoff Pete Dale for an early and unfamiliar 7-0 scoreline. For the next 10 minutes or so Sutton continued to drive and punch holes in the Salts defensive line and really should have put the game to bed after 25 minutes but unfamiliar eagerness to score led to errors and penalties that totally took the wind out of the Sutton sails. Old Salts waited for mistakes and indiscretions and gained a foothold in the game, without ever looking particularly threatening. The Sutton scrum worked well with the all foreign front row of Frenchmen Ro and Quentin Doireau and gnarled old Argentinian veteran Andy Duckworth(just for you that one Rab!) winning more than their fair share of ball and Sutton went into half time with the narrow 7 point lead that they had worked so hard to defend.
The second half started with enforced changes as young Duckling went off spouting claret from his beak, never to return( don’t know where he went either for the rest of the half!) prop Ro succumbed to a shoulder injury thus precipitating the necessary entry of the considerable Steve Marshall into the front row. Salts started the half with a bang as they took advantage of yet another penalty and then a charge down to score in the corner and they were in the ascendancy. Sutton’s players came on and off the pitch with startling regularity as first half Danny Price replacement, after several timely interventions, was himself replaced and then veteran Stu Mc Garragle, who was to make his mark later, entered the action as did winger Hakeen Douglas and second row Aaron Byrne. With Old Salts on top it came as no surprise that they took the lead as their young winger took advantage of a huge gap in the backline to scamper 20 metres and touch down under the posts. With the successful conversion making the scoreline 12-7 in favour of the home team it was looking ominous for the men in green bit at least there was time to o and win a game that should have been done and dusted by the break. Salts with their spirits up proceeded to lay siege to the Sutton line but they held firm with some heroic defence from the whole team as wave upon wave of orange and yellow shirts crashed pointlessly into green shirts. Finally a knock on, a Sutton scrum, green ball and the ball was through the hands of Dale and James King in a thrice and on to flying winger Douglas, who with a lot to do, flew 60 metres down the wing outsprinting the desperate Salts’ defence for a fine debut try. Dale wide with the conversion 12-10 to Old Salts and local pride to play for. The tide had turned however and Salts didn’t really threaten the green line again but could the home team’s line be breached again for the much needed victory? Fine work from Harper, Foulsham, Dale and King almost put Ian Wilson away for a score but the ball went to ground and Salts breathed again. Again and again fine tackling thwarted Sutton who continued to press through the increasingly influential Alex Shaw and some bullocking runs from Marshall and Cooper. Composure would surely win the day and so it proved as quick hands from Harper, Dale, King, Foulsham and Shaw combined to put Wilson over for a try he richly deserved for a fine individual, disciplined performance! All this from a miskicked restart snaffled up by McGarragle who had the quick presence of mind to shift be ball at speed. Conversion missed 17-12 to Sutton and in truth the game was finally won as they held on comfortably to record a much needed win.
Thanks to coaches Dean and Dan for their work and Steve Clarke and Mr and Mrs Shaw for their support on the touchline.