1st XV Match report - 5th November 2022

David Daniels 1st XV Manager

Match report - 5th November 2022

Newark RFC 27pts v Sutton Coldfield 22pts

Regional 2 North Midlands

After their recent impressive run of 5 successive league victories, which took them to 2nd in the table with 8 games played, last weekend the Sutton magic seemed to fade a little at times in the gloom that pervaded the excellent ground and facilities at Newark RFC, who were not having the best of starts to the season sitting in 9th in the table at the start of the day but they took full advantage of the Sutton errors to lift themselves to 7th in the league by securing a bonus point 27-22 victory and Sutton had to settle for 2 bonus points as they slipped from 2nd to 4th in the table. However, Sutton remain in close contention with just 3 points seperating the top four teams in a tight competitive table.

Sutton kicked off in light drizzle on a perfect pitch in overcast conditions and it was Sutton who made the early running by applying pressure on the Newark try line from the outset but although the visitors came close to scoring on at least two occassions during the opening 5 minutes it was the homeside who broke out of the Sutton stranglehold on 8 minutes racing up field to take play into the Sutton 22 for the first time. Then, from an advanced position on their right wing Newark spun the ball across the Sutton 22 to the left wing and although the advance was stopped short of the try line by the Sutton defence, Newark scrum half James Tarbatt, picked up the ball from the base of the ruck and squeezed over for the opening try to the left of the posts.

The conversion attempt was missed but the homeside had staken a 5-0 lead against the run of play with 10 minutes played. Stung by the score Sutton redoubled their efforts following the restart and the visitors drove play deep into the Newark 22 led by tenacious hooker Dean Ginn and then as the Sutton drive for the try line slowed the hooker reclaimed the ball and carried it over for a fine try close to the right corner. Unfortunately the difficult conversion attempt drifted just inches wide but the score was level at 5-5 after 13 minutes of play.

During the next period of play the game ebbed and flowed with the Sutton pack holding their own in the set scrums and at the breakdown against a strong opposition pack and once again the Sutton lineout functioned well producing good ball allowing Sutton's scrum half Zak Tyler good options when distributing the ball to the dangerous Sutton backs but unfortunately on ocasions the normal fluency when developing an attack was missing and loose play denied Sutton. Then, midway through the first half Sutton's skipper George Ord made a telling break in mid-field with his charging run taking play into the Newark 22 then great supporting interplay carried the ball on towards the Newark try line, before the ball returned to George Ord for the second row to crash over for another well worked try, to the left of the posts. Unfortunately, the conversion drifted wide, this time just inches to the left of the posts but the try took Sutton into a 10-5 lead with 20 minutes to play to the break.

From the restart Sutton continued to maintain their pressure creating good chances and they came close again on 25 minutes when a chip ahead on the left wing was cleanly gathered by left wing Will Mitchell with a clear run to the try line but the speedy winger was called back by the referee, who believed the winger was marginally in front of the kicker when the ball was kicked. Newark kicked the ensuing penalty into touch and from the lineout in the Sutton 22 on the Newark right wing, the ball was fed left to find Newark centre Matt Walton in space to score in the left corner on 26 minutes and with another conversion missed the scores were level again at 10-10 with 14 minutes to play to the break.

In the period upto the break, much to the delight of the home supporters, it was the homesides who dominated the scoreboard with 2 tries and a conversion. The first try came on 37 minutes from a lineout on the Newark left wing and the ball was fed right at pace to break through the Sutton defence for right wing Josh Ashe to score wide out in the right corner and then as Sutton looked to set up an attack following a lineout on their left wing a misjudged pass in mid-field went to ground on the Newark 22 and the ball was picked up in the centre and fed to left wing Scott Edmed in clear space setting up a foot race down the left wing and into the corner for a dramatic try and with fullback Alex Scott adding the conversion Newark ended the half on a high leading 22-10 at the interval.

Frustrated by the unexpected deficit Sutton strived to play their way back into the contest at the start of the second half but their play lacked its normal authority and it was midway through the second half before they had an impact on the score. This came when Sutton won a penalty in midfield, which was kicked to the left touchline for a lineout in the Newark 22. The ball was won and fed left to right across the 22 before left wing Will Mitchell looped in from his left wing to join the line and power over for an excellent try to the right of the posts. Fullback Matt Smith found his range and direction to land the conversion to bring Sutton back to within 5 points at 22-17 with 17 minutes left to play.

Things were looking better for Sutton at this point but unfortunately straight from the restart Newark won a scrum on their left side of the field, around the halfway line and they quickly transfered the ball from left to right across the field into hands of right wing Josh Ashe, who had space to round the last defender and the missed tackle allowed the speedy winger to race into the right corner for his second try of the game stretching the score to 27-17.

Again the wide out conversion was missed and Sutton had 15 minutes to retrieve something from the game... and to their credit and as testimony to their strength of character, the Sutton side rose to the challenge and set about their driven task. From a lineout on their right wing the ball was driven towards the Newark try line and although the drive for the try line was slowed Sutton created a second surge and 2nd row Harry Moxon took the ball over the try line to claim the all important 4th try for a bonus point and to close to within 5 points at 27-22 for a losing bonus point but with 8 minutes left to play Sutton had two tasks in hand. One was to strive for the winning score but also to protect the losing bonus point by denying their worthy opponents another score.

With this as the backdrop to the closing minutes of the contest, from the restart for the final period of play Sutton defended magnificently when under attack and they looked to counter-attack if the chance opened up but the 8 minutes passed by with no further change to the 27-22 scoreboard and in fact it was Newark who kicked the ball off the field to end the game and protect their hard fought victory when the clock ticked beyond the injury time allowance,

Reflecting on their missed chances and some basic errors which crept into their game on an off-day compared with their recent winning performances, Sutton can give credit to a Newark side who took their chances on the day and as a club acted as perfect hosts on a disappointing day for the Sutton fans knowing post match that a win would have taken them to the top of the table.

This weekend Sutton prepare to correct the errors of last week as they travell to Old Silhillians, who won theitr first game last week and will be hell bent on repeating the experience against Sutton in front of their home crowd come Saturday 12th Nov 2022. KO 2.15 pm.