SCRFC 1st XV Match report - 14th Oct 2018

Picture: Sutton celebrate a guest appearance of former 1st Team Captain Steve McCormack

David Daniels
SCRFC 1st XV Team Manager

Sutton Coldfield 17pts v Newbold RFC 54pts

Warwickshire Cup Semi- Final played at Broadstreet RFC

Last Sunday Sutton 1st XV again faced unbeaten high flying top of the table leaders Newbold RFC, having lost their league fixture at Newbold the previous weekend recording only their second defeat in the first six games of the league season and although a much changed Sutton side fared slightly better this time scoring two well worked tries in the Semi Final of the Warwickshire Cup, it was the impressive Newbold outfit who progressed into the 2018/19 Cup Final with an impressive 54-17 victory.

Released from the pressures of league rugby Sutton chose to bring some of their young guns into the big arena and give them the experience of enjoying the impressive facilities available at the excellent Broadstreet RFC Centre and a chance to flavour the game at the senior level.

All those who stepped out of the shadows and into the 1st XV dressing room last Sunday rose to the occasion. Although up against a strong in form team the Sutton lads played their hearts out and the game was much more of a contest then the final score line suggests with Sutton trailing 35-3 at the break but coming back into the game with two converted tries in a compelling second half. The Sutton try scorers were first 19 year old 2nd row Harry Moxon, followed by 22 year old scrum half Zak Tyler and fly half Joel James (23 yrs) capped a great game by converting both tries and adding a penalty for good measure in the first 3 minutes of the game. The points scorers were ably assisted by the other team members, notably 18 year old Will Smewin, who made a great contribution at fullback and 20 year old prop Jonah Falconer, who performed brilliantly against strong and experienced front row opponents.

The game also saw impressive 1st XV debuts for flanker Chris Bancroft and Ollie Maddon, whilst at the other end of the scale Sutton were pleased to well back to the action second row Steve McCormack, who as skipper led Sutton to victory in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 Warwickshire Cup Finals respectively and having retired in 2014 in order to enjoy family life, he was tempted out of retirement to lead the young Sutton side in this Warwickshire Cup adventure.

The match also marked a notable landmark for Sutton's erstwhile action man hooker Dean Ginn, who celebrated his 50th appearance for Sutton 1st XV, making his debut on 30th Aug 2014 in the first round of the Warwickshire Cup away to Old Leamingtonians a game Sutton won 66-7.

As to the game itself, Sutton kicked off on a firm pitch but in a steady drizzle as Newbold received the ball in their own half and ominously mounted an attack taking play back into the Sutton half but Sutton defended well and as they attempted to break out they were awarded a penalty on their 10 metre line allowing fly half Joel James to kick deep for a Sutton lineout on the Newbold 22. Sutton won the lineout and started a drive bringing them another penalty as Newbold infringed again giving Sutton fly half James a pop at goal from the edge of the 22 to the left of the posts and the newly installed fly half made no mistake with an assured strike to give Sutton a deserved 3-0 lead after just 3 minutes of play...

But unfortunately that was as good as it got for the new look Sutton side in a torrid first half as the impressive Newbold side went through their full repertoire scoring 5 tries, all converted to lead 35-3 at the break.

Although Sutton competed well the high flying league leaders had the edge with no8 Sam Thompson leading the try fest on 15 minutes with a score from close range followed by centre Ethan Wookey, who swept past Sutton on the wide out side to score to the right of the posts after 26 minutes and then on 30 minutes Declan George drove over followed by Doozer Zimba on 38 minutes leaving Ben Thompson to squeeze over in the right corner deep into injury time and with fly half Dan O'Brien adding all conversions including the difficult touchline conversion of the last try Newbold held a deserved 35-3 lead at the break.

To their credit Sutton made a strong and positive start to the second half putting their opponents under sustatined pressure in their own half but the Sutton chance came when Newbold looked to ease the pressure with a long clearance kick deep into the Sutton half. However, Sutton's lively fullback Will Smewin gathered the ball cleanly and setup a counterattack racing out of his own half skilfully evading defenders as he raced deep into the Newbold territory before chipping ahead. The ball was picked up close to the try line and 2nd row Harry Moxon raced in under the posts for a spectacular try to show just what this young Sutton side is capable of. Joel James added the simple conversion to bring the score line to 35-10 just 12 minutes into the second period.

Unfortunately, although encouraged by their dramatic score following the restart Sutton suffered a penalty try as Newbold stepped up the pressure on the Sutton try line to stretch their lead again to 42-10 after 15 minutes of the second half rebuilding the mountain Sutton had to climb.

There then followed a flurry of activity including successive yellow cards against Newbold but Sutton were unable to take advantage and with around 15 minutes left to play it was Newbold who extended their lead to 49-10 with a second try for Ben Thompson converted by Dan O'Brien before Sutton conjured up some magic of their own as scrum half Zak Tyler raced in for a spectacular solo try under the posts converted by fly half Joel James to close to 49-17 but Newbold had the final word when Ben Thompson completed his hat trick of tries following a penalty in the Sutton 22, which was kicked into touch and then a catch and drive saw Newbold drive for the line and the scorer broke free to score close to the posts but amazingly the Newbold fly half Dan O'Brien, who kicked all of the other conversions missed probably his easiest attempt leaving the score at 54-17 after a highly entertaining contest and good luck to Newbold in the Final, which will be played at the Coventry Butts Arena.

This weekend Sutton 1st XV have to regenerate themselves ready to face old rivals and friends from Old Halesonians at the Roger Smoldon Ground, Walmley Road as they return to league action looking to maintain their high ranking in the Midlands One West league table. KO 3pm. All supporters will receive a warm welcome on the touchline and in the bar afterwards.